So I Am Not Healed Yet…now What?

Photo Cred. @chaddodd

…If you ask the Father for anything in My Name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full.”
John 16:23-24

This past Friday I was afflicted by a medical procedure that did not go according to plan. On Friday and Saturday, I was in so much pain, all I could do is lay in bed not wanting to move from this temporary shelter which provided the desired comfort from the disruptive discomfort.

As I laid in bed thoughts of healing were swarming through my mind, trying to find a place to land and take root. I didn’t know where to start. The logical is to pray that God take away the pain. But that was too simplistic, too generic. Yes it would be great for the pain to go away but that doesn’t fix the root cause of the pain. I might as well have asked God for a valium if the removal of pain was the only goal.

Many people have written lengthy books on healing. Their writing on the best ways to obtain healing, on guaranteed ways to receive ones healing. Yet for some reason the logic we search for behind healing is lacking, the ‘science’ of healing is still a mystery. Why? Because God’s healing is not logical or scientific.

We can quote scriptures at God constantly in hopes to convince Him of His promise to provide healing to us. Scriptures like Isaiah 53:5, “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Or Psalm 103:2-3, “Bless the Lord, my soul…who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases”.

When sick, we are reminded of stories in scripture like the man at the pool of Bethesda, waiting for the chance to be placed in the water when it is stirred; Or the story of the paralytic man who was dropped through the roof by four men in a desperate attempt to walk again. Examples of healing is throughout scripture, but healing is still escaping the modern man. It is as if Godly healing is a lottery system, and we are just waiting for our lucky numbers to be called.

In the absence of trust in God’s word and lack of faith, we rely on medicine and doctors to cure our diseases. I know this past week I put my trust in a physician and it is not working out too well.

Per Merriam-Webster, healing is defined simply as “To make free from injury or disease.” So if the definition is so simple, why doesn’t it come to everyone who asks for it?

There are the perpetual healing seekers out there. It is the sun their solar system revolves around. You get a cold or a scratch, and they quickly say “let us pray for healing”. Understand I am not against healing. I only point this out to bring clarity to the subject.

When God crafted us in our mother’s womb, He put systems in place that combat disease and infection. He has provided nutrients our bodies require to sustain these soldier’s fight against disease and infection. For example, when you get a common cold it is your body working to get the infection out of your system. Or when you have a fever, the body is generating heat to kill off whatever is working against your immune system. Yet we pray for these symptoms to cease and God to heal, only for our comfort to return. But if we persevere through and allow our bodies to heal the way God naturally created us to, then we would rest, stay hydrated and let our body work diligently to make us well again.

I digress…I am not trying to give a lesson on healing, as I am still learning. I am simply trying to share a point I am learning in scripture.

Jesus speaking to his disciples in John 15 says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing…If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”

I have heard multiple times scripture taken out of context to support our hopes and motivate us to be a blessed, healed people. Scriptures like:

• “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” Matthew 18:19
• “‘For I will restore you to health and I will heal you from your wounds,’ declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 30:17
• “Ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” John 15:7
• “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask the Father for anything in My name, he will give it to you.” John 16:23

Each of the above gives hope and motivates us to believe we can have anything we ask for, no questions asked. But what is really happening in these scriptures.

In Matthew 18, Jesus is referring to if a brother sins against you, how you are to handle the matter. And when we ask for “anything”, our English as compounded the two words into one. When in the Greek, it is two, “pas pragma”, meaning any matter. So in context Jesus is saying, if two agree on earth about any matter that has separated a brother from unity in Christ, when you ask, it will be restored.

What about Jeremiah 30:17? Jeremiah is prophesying to Israel and Judah in regards to delivering them from captivity.

And the last two in John 15 and 16?

If we take the two scriptures at face value, standing alone, then whatever I ask, I will receive. Now that is a great promise; however, that is not God’s promise. His promise states that when we are grafted into the vine, abiding in Jesus, then when we ask anything in accordance to His name it will be given. When we aiteō; meaning to ask, beg, call for, desire or require, God will provide. Now that is a different promise. I must abide in Him first in order to receive whatever I ask.

When I am grafted into the vine, what I ask for is accordance to His will, to His commands, to His desires. My desires are transformed into His. So when I ask for healing, which is in accordance to His will, His promise is He will provide healing.

Today, as I write this, I have asked three days in a row for healing. Two days, I have been very specific in the healing, requesting specifically what to heal and the time frame in which I am seeking healing. Healing today.

Has healing come? No, but the promise hasn’t changed. I have been inflicted by disease which comes from Satan, and from my studies in scripture, in order for Satan to inflict he must first ask God for permission. So though God’s will for my life is healing, he has allowed this affliction. I am not sure why, but I am sure that it is drawing me closer to Him and putting my trust and faith in His word, not in mine.

And what if tomorrows healing still doesn’t arrive? Then I will pray in accordance to God’s promise, that when I abide in Him, that whatever I ask, anything I ask, in Jesus name, I shall receive. And my faith and trust will be strengthened more.