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Some time ago, Peter and I were discussing a number of different healing cases from around the world. We took various situations one by one and discussed how the Lord had worked in each situation. We marveled at how even though the affliction had been the same in several instances, the healing came about in different ways. The more we discussed it, the more I saw that we had been trying to fit everything nicely into some kind of box or formula.
We finally concluded that it doesn’t work that way, as we can see when we look at how the Lord works so differently in each individual’s life—not only in their healing, but in their circumstances, the lessons He teaches them, the tests they endure, and the blessings He gives them.
Trying to give precise, step-by-step counsel on how to get healed in every circumstance is just not possible, because the Lord doesn’t have a set pattern for everybody’s healing—everything from instantaneous, supernatural healing to ultimate healing through deliverance to heaven after a long time of illness. There is healing by faith in God alone, and also God’s healing using doctors and hospitals. Sometimes the Lord can use natural remedies, sometimes He uses doctor’s prescriptions and skills, and sometimes He heals without any natural help.
No two situations are exactly alike, and the Lord doesn’t work in any two people’s lives in exactly the same way. Each case is different and He handles each person’s healing in a different way. If we would look at it that way and understand that in every case the Lord works differently, we would have a greater comprehension of why in some cases the Lord heals us and in other cases He doesn’t—at least not right away. I believe that if we can grasp this point, it will help to keep us from feeling condemned when we aren’t immediately healed, and it will also help us to have more compassion for those who suffer long-term afflictions.
Each person is a complex physical and spiritual being. The Lord has bestowed on each of us different gifts and talents, different physical and spiritual attributes and deficiencies, different strengths and weaknesses, and no two of us are alike. The Lord, our Maker, knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows everything about us—our every thought, our every weakness, our every joy, our every need. He knows what to allow in our lives to teach us the lessons He wants us to learn. He knows what tests and trials will help us to become what He wants us to be.
Two people could have precisely the same affliction, they could both have prayer, and one could get healed immediately and the other could continue to be afflicted for years. Does this mean that one is stronger spiritually and closer to the Lord than the other? Not necessarily. The reasons the Lord allowed these two people to get the affliction in the first place may have been completely different. If His reasons for allowing the afflictions are different, then His reasons for healing or not healing are different as well.
Perhaps the person who doesn’t receive healing right away isn’t necessarily doing anything wrong, or not doing something right. Maybe the Lord just knows it’s not time yet, and that they have to endure the affliction longer in order to have it work in their life and accomplish the purpose that He wants to bring about—blessings which take patience. The afflictions of this life can be good things in disguise, which can bring about great spiritual blessings in our lives. Delay in healing is not a denial, but is part of the Lord’s plan for that person’s life.
The kind of faith I have is to trust my life and my health and my eyes to the Lord. I have faith that His ways are higher than my ways, and His thoughts than mine.1
It’s not really just a question of having faith for healing, but it’s whether or not you have faith to accept the Lord’s plan and design for your life and for whatever He brings your way. Those of you who’ve had long-term illnesses or injuries have just had to keep on going, even though you weren’t healed. If the affliction persisted month after month, you had to hold on and trust the Lord to either eventually heal you, or to give you the grace to bear the affliction and to teach you whatever it was He wanted you to learn through it. You’ve had to accept the Romans 8:28 in your situation, and yield to the fact that this was a cross that the Lord wanted you to bear for the time being. And in every case where you trusted the Lord and hung on and didn’t give up, I’m sure you eventually saw that it bore good fruit in your life through the lessons you learned.
Who has the most faith?—The person who is instantly healed of an affliction, or someone who has to bear that affliction and still carry on loving, serving, and trusting the Lord even though they don’t understand why they haven’t been healed? They both have faith, but the one who has had to suffer the affliction has had to have enduring faith and trust in the Lord day by day. These individuals have had to have faith, not necessarily specifically for healing, but faith that the Lord is going to take care of them and bring them through.
Faith is a gift of God, and in a case where He chooses not to heal us, maybe what He wants to do is give us the faith to endure it and to praise and thank Him and to be a good testimony to others in our affliction.
If He doesn’t choose to heal you, you shouldn’t feel condemned.2 Neither should you look down upon others or consider them weak in faith just because they don’t get a quick or immediate healing, or because they have to go to the hospital or take medication. Perhaps they are weak in faith for healing, because the Lord is not ready to heal them. But perhaps they’re very strong in faith that He’s going to help carry them through the difficult times, and they show their faith by asking for prayer, trying to be cheerful, not complaining, etc. Real faith is doing what the Lord tells you to do for your situation, and knowing that He knows best, whether you get healed or not.
Sometimes people don’t have the faith for their immediate healing because it’s not the Lord’s time. However, other times people don’t have the faith for their healing because they’re not reading the Bible and claiming His promises in His Word. Maybe they’re not being obedient to the Word. In any case, you’ve got to get in the Word before you can have faith in order to obtain healing—whether it’s immediate healing, healing that occurs a little way down the line, healing when He takes you home to be with Him, or healing when He comes back for all of us! You still need the Word to have faith. “Faith comes by hearing the word of God.”3
Situations differ, and each person’s situation is tailor-made! No other situation in the world is exactly the same as yours. The Lord uses our own unique situations to help us to learn the lessons He knows we need to learn, in the way most suited to our needs and personality.
During a time when I was extremely weak due to ongoing affliction, we asked the Lord what was the purpose of this in my life, and He gave the following beautiful prophecy. In His time, I was healed. Praise the Lord!
“This sickness is not unto death, but that the glory of God may be revealed. That which I have promised, I am able to perform, but it requires faith, trust, and patience. Such matters require faith—faith to trust Me even unto death, or even unto the door of death. For they that come before Me and seek My healing come in faith and must believe, and thus must trust.
“When you come to Me, you put yourself in My hands, and the way My hand chooses to move is not always the way that your mind thinks. You must have patience, and you must understand that the mind of God, the thoughts of God, and the ways of God are higher than yours.
“So trust Me. Pray. Come to Me in faith and know that I am able to touch and to heal. But know that besides being the Great Physician, I am the Good Shepherd. Put yourself in My hands. Let Me lead you and guide you.”
One thing that can make physical afflictions easier to bear is knowing that you can go to the Lord and receive His personal words of love and encouragement. It’s a marvelous comfort and relief to be able to hear from the Lord in prophecy. You don’t have to be in the dark about what the Lord is doing in your life, or be plagued by unanswered questions, or be under condemnation. You can pour out your heart to the Lord and you can receive the help from heaven that you need today.
He can show you why, in His love, He has allowed you to be afflicted and what to do about it—how to go about securing His healing. Faith comes by hearing the Word—not only the written Word, but also the words of specific encouragement, instruction, and guidance that your personal loving Shepherd can give you through prophecy.
So don’t neglect to take your heartaches, burdens, and questions to Him.4 He’s more than willing to answer! He wants to lift your load and lighten your burdens and make your afflictions easier to bear. He wants to help you to learn precious lessons through these tests and trials.
Afflictions are not easy to bear. They can be discouraging, disheartening, and painful. They can cause you to miss the sleep that you desperately need. At times they can make it almost impossible for you to do your ministry and fulfill your responsibilities. And the more tired you get and the sicker you feel, the more it wears and tears on your relations with others—your co-workers, spouse, or children.
When you’re afflicted, it can cause you to become discouraged or to doubt the Lord’s love. But if in your hour of darkness, pain, and testing you turn to the Lord and you seek Him, He can bring beauty for ashes.5
So please, don’t neglect to go to the Lord, to cast your burdens on Him and to let Him lift you up. Let Him carry you. Let Him speak to your heart and comfort you as the wonderful lover and husband that He is to you. He loves you and He will never suffer you to be tempted above that you are able, but He will make a way to escape.6 And the way of escape He offers you may often come through His words of comfort and love and encouragement, which will lift you over and above the clouds and stormy weather, and bring you to the light of a brighter day.
If you’re experiencing an ongoing affliction, it can help to go to the Lord frequently and hear from Him in prophecy. And if you have questions about the words, promises, or explanations that He gives you, just ask Him about them. He never grows weary of your questions. He never grows tired of answering, because He loves you so.
Let Him bear your burdens, ease your pain, and lighten your load by letting Him speak to your heart through prophecy.
Originally published October 1997. Adapted and republished June 2013.
Read by Irene Quiti Vera.
1 Isaiah 55:8–9.
2 Romans 8:1.
3 Romans 10:17.
4 1 Peter 5:7.
5 Isaiah 61:3.
6 1 Corinthians 10:13.
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