Archive for March 2022
When God Promises Healing
When God Promises Healing
“There was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.” – John 4:46-47
When Jesus arrived in Galilee, he met a man who came pleading for his son’s life. The man was a royal official and most likely had plenty of money and servants.
But even wealth and power don’t guarantee that a person will never face hardship or pain. So, an anxious father found himself in a crowd, begging Jesus to return with him.
“Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” (John 4:48)
Again, the man begs, asking Jesus to accompany him before his son dies from his illness. Then Jesus tells him to leave, promising that his son will live.
When he returns home, the man finds his son well. So, he calls his servants and asks what time the boy improved. He smiles when they mention the time because it was the exact hour that he was with Jesus.
There may be an illness or relationship in your life that Jesus has promised healing in. As the days pass, you may wonder why you haven’t seen it yet. Though the man had the assurance from Jesus that all would be well, he still had to travel a long distance before he would see it fulfilled.
Sometimes, healing happens long before we see it. Don’t lose faith, dear one. If God has assured you that you will experience healing, it’s a promise that He will keep.
God, thank You for Your faithfulness. I haven’t seen healing (in this area of life) yet but I know that You are working all things for my good. Let Your name be magnified through this healing work that You’re doing. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Healing in Unexpected Ways
Healing in Unexpected Ways
“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.” – Luke 13:10-11
When Jesus was teaching in the synagogue (or church), he saw a woman crippled. Many versions of the Bible explain that the woman was doubled over, unable to straighten her spine at all.
Imagine the pain of walking hunched over for years. Suddenly even mundane tasks like grocery shopping or cooking dinner would be unbearably painful. Your joints and muscles would ache constantly from compensating for your spinal column. Your neck would be at angle, making conversations and eye contact difficult.
So when Jesus saw the woman, He was overcome with compassion. He called out, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” (Luke 13:12)
But an interesting thing happens then. As everyone else rejoices and praises God, the church leader grows angry. He says there are six days to work on and the seventh is meant to be holy. “If you want to be healed,” he says, “Come on the right day!” (Luke 13:14, paraphrased).
Jesus become angry and calls the man a hypocrite, asking, “Should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
Healing doesn’t always present the way we would like it to. Jesus may choose to heal that woman from her violent spouse by allowing a divorce. He may choose to heal a sick man from cancer by taking him to Heaven.
It’s important as Christians that we don’t judge the healed for how they’re healed. Rather, we’re just to rejoice that Christ has done a beautiful miracle.
God, help me to rejoice with those who have been healed. I don’t want to be so caught up in what I think healing should look like that I miss it when You perform a miracle. I thank You and praise You for the healing that has happened to those around me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.