Healed

Healing has never been a clear-cut issue for me. While I have never experienced a miraculous physical restoration, I have seen God’s hand of provision at work in my body and others’ bodies.

But my theology and practice have often collided whenever I didn’t see God move in the way I expected. Recently, however, God unpacked a few more layers of understanding for me as I stepped forward to receive prayer for a torn meniscus at a youth service.

With teenagers gathered around me, I felt humbled to be the recipient of their prayers—especially since so many of them struggle to believe their prayers are valid or desired. But the greatest honor came as I heard the prayers of a 27-year-old woman on our youth ministry team. In her life, God’s answer to cancer had come through a mastectomy, not miraculous deliverance. Profoundly moved as she prayed about my need, I saw in that moment the greatness of God and the complexity of His ways. My minor torn meniscus, her life-and-death battle, and one faithful God. Prayer is a place of deep privilege.

Romans 11:33-34 reminds us that God’s ways stand far above anything we can comprehend. But there are some things we can definitively know about healing:

• Jesus’ death and resurrection restores our brokenness (Isaiah 53:5, Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 11:2-5).

• Jesus’ triumph did not exclude suffering (Isaiah 53:3-4; Mark 8:31).

• God does not reject but rather welcomes and encourages our requests for miraculous intervention (James 5:13-18).

Just as the blind man in Mark 8:1-38 didn’t receive his healing the same way as others who had been healed, so too do our stories vary in the ways God works out His plans for our lives.

Taken from “Our Daily Journey”