One thing I struggle with, is the ratio of people who get healed supernaturally, versus those who are healed by medicine or those who eventually die.
If we discount specific waves of the Spirit for a moment – the ministries of Kathryn Kuhlman and other documented faith healers – and instead, do a simple headcount of those who are healed in an average church, we may find that less people are healed than those who die, or those who get well through medicine.
If medicine is how God is healing nowadays, shouldn’t we prioritise it and ensure people have access to universal health care? Shouldn’t more churches subsidise medical treatment like the Catholic and Baptist churches do?
I reject the blame narrative that says people aren’t healed because they don’t have enough faith. I personally think it’s an evil message of condemnation and presumption. This is because Jesus said mustard seed sized faith is enough. I find it hard to believe that a desperately sick Christian doesn’t have mustard seed faith or that their family members do not. So I don’t believe it’s strictly a faith or belief issue. My personal experience doesn’t even lend credence to an absence of faith.
I don’t think some of us fully appreciate the concept of fatherhood, when we accuse Christians of lacking faith. I had a wonderful dad. If I fell ill, he would drop everything for me. If I lacked the faith required for healing, he would stay on my case to do everything necessary for me to get on the path to belief. We portray God as wicked, when we say he would stand by and do nothing, until we somehow attain a mystical level of faith that heals some and kills others.
I think when people are ill, we need to be there for them physically. There is a level of exhaustion that hits you when you are ill. You have no energy to eat, pray or think. Others need to pray for you. Sometimes what staves off fear is having someone with you during complicated, invasive medical tests. You need people to distract you from the pain and to remind you that you will be okay. You also need money. Health care is expensive.
Sometimes people don’t do the full spectrum of tests needed for a correct diagnosis, because they can’t afford to. Sometimes they don’t have the funds to go to the right hospitals. Beyond praying for people, please send them funds. Please feed them or drive them to the hospital.
Let’s go back to this issue of faith. I like how Paul describes it in I Thessalonians 1:8 (AMP): “For not only has the Word concerning and from the Lord resounded forth from you unmistakably in Macedonia and Achaia, but everywhere the report has gone forth of your faith in God [of your leaning of your whole personality on Him in complete trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness].”
That kind of faith doesn’t sound like simple head knowledge to me. Trust is an emotional and reasoned response to someone who has proven himself to be trustworthy over time. Do you have history with God? Can you recall the times he’s been there for you? Then, you can trust him. For me, leaning my personality on God means despite my tendency to want to control things, I need to let go and let him run my life programme. I can’t bully or threaten God to heal me. I can only trust him to.
I can't bully or threaten God to heal me. I can only trust him to. Click To Tweet I reject the blame narrative that says people aren’t healed because they don't have enough faith. Click To Tweet