“For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.” (Matthew 13:15)
When I was a small child, my family watched Oral Roberts on television every week. The Oral Roberts of the late 1950’s was not the Oral Roberts whom we know today. In the early years of his ministry, Roberts conducted healing services and won notoriety nationwide for the miracles that God performed. He was yesteryear’s Benny Hinn.
I remember one particular Sunday morning at the end of his program when Roberts encouraged his viewers to reach out in faith if someone was in need of healing in their home. My brother had been sick so I followed his instructions to the letter and placed one hand on the television screen and my other hand on my brother. I just knew that God was going to work a miracle and heal my brother.
Unfortunately, the power supply to the television was interrupted and by the time power was restored, Oral Roberts was off the air. You can’t imagine the disappointment I felt.
I had forgotten all about that incident until the other night. You see my wife had been sick for almost six weeks and just couldn’t seem to shake a nagging sinus infection and the chest cold that went with it. We were visiting with some friends and she asked for prayer. I knew she was at wit’s end, especially since none of the prescriptions seemed to be working. But she remembered what the Apostle James tells us at James 5:15, “And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well…”
What bothered me most about my wife’s appeal for prayer the other night was that I realized that the childlike faith I had for God’s ability to heal seemed as distant as that 1950’s morning. “What’s wrong with me,” I wondered’? “If God can save a wretch like me, then He could certainly heal a saint as dear as my wife.”
Sadly, there are a lot of Christians who don’t put much stock into God’s ability to heal. Yet, the Bible is full of stories about divine healing. In fact, Jesus healed every kind of sickness and disease, a reminder that we should took upon Jesus as a healer of the first resort, rather than someone to whom we turn when hope is all but lost. (Matthew 4:23)
Obviously, my Christian faith is not as strong as either God or me would like for it to be. I’m not embarrassed about it though because while I may have a spiritual problem with God’s ability to heal, I realize that most Christians have other questions and doubts about God. I also realize that God is not finished with me. The truth is I only know of one man who was able to say, “It is finished.” (John 19:30)
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