I read something today that made so much sense to me. It was in the book, ‘Healing comes by Sanctification’ by Dr Michelle Strydom. It came down to that more non-believers get miraculous healing than believers do. Just think about the prayer lines in churches on a Sunday. How many people actually get healed? How many people get healed at a crusade in Africa where no one has even heard about Jesus? Lots! Blind eyes are opened, the deaf hear, the lame walk. We have all heard the testimonies and seen videos. So why would God choose to heal people who don’t honor Him and who haven’t accepted Jesus as their savior? But people who have been serving Him for years and go to church every Sunday still have multiple medical issues? Just think about it this way: If you’ve never heard the Gospel, never been given the chance to follow Jesus, then some guy from a far away country has a meeting and you go. He calls up everyone who is sick and you go because you have severe arthritis and have been unable to work for the last 10 years. He says some words in a language you don’t understand and suddenly your fingers straighten, your toes and feet come into line, and the pain disappears. You test this newness in your limbs and very soon you are jumping up and down like a child and running around the arena. What is your first question? “Who did this? How is it possible?” The ministry workers tell you about Jesus and you decide that if this Jesus God could do this then He deserves your loyalty. Your family and friends are in awe and they all decide that Jesus is the way to go. You see what’s happening? If non-believers see miracles they become converted. But what happens when a believer is healed? And it does happen. Not much. Hopefully they will become more zealous in their witnessing.
What does the Bible say about healing? Reading through the Gospels it seems like most of the people Jesus healed were not believers yet. Probably obviously because His ministry on earth only lasted 3 years. . The Books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Acts are the spreading of the message of salvation. They are foremost for non-believers. This is about coming to Christ and in these books there are many healings. The Books from Romans to Jude are about sanctification after Salvation. They were written for believers. Psalm 31:10, “For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.”
Psalm 38:3-8 in the Message, “I’ve lost twenty pounds in two months because of your accusation. My bones are brittle as dry sticks because of my sin. I’m swamped by my bad behavior, collapsed under gunnysacks of guilt. The cuts in my flesh stink and grow maggots because I’ve lived so badly. And now I’m flat on my face feeling sorry for myself morning to night. All my insides are on fire, my body is a wreck. I’m on my last legs; I’ve had it – my life is a vomit of groans.”
These are only two of many verses that illustrate how the way you live affects your health.
James 5:16, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” You may think that confessing your sins, or the bad way you’ve been doing things takes a lot of courage, but what it really takes it true repentance. The realization that you are wrong. And we don’t like being wrong. It’s not something we do well. Psalm 34:18, “The Lord is near those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.” Psalm 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart – These, O God, You will not despise.”
I other words, we have to be brought to our knees by the realization that we are wrong in whatever it is we have been doing and we have to be willing to speak to someone about it so that we can be healed. Have you ever done something that you know is wrong and then worked up enough courage to tell someone you trust what you did? How did you feel once you told them? Way better, right? That’s how it works. Sometimes you only have to confess to God, but you have to confess and you have to sincerely turn away from what you were doing wrong. And you will be healed. Or maybe you won’t but your heart will be healed and that is way more important than your body. God doesn’t work by formulas, He works by love.
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