Healing

As I walked into church this past Sunday there was a quote up on the projection screen that read, “I am the Lord your healer.” I thought about that quote more intently that morning having just gone through back surgery two weeks prior. I believe that quote, yet at the same time I question it. I started thinking about healing and I wondered why God didn’t choose to fix my back before surgery. There were several times I prayed and had others pray with me for healing yet physically things didn’t change. The two initial questions it brought to the surface for me were, “God, are you really my healer?” and “Is it futile to even pray for healing?” God’s healing can seem so random to me.

The question of God being my healer raised another question that I took time to ponder, “What does God really most want to heal? Although I believe God is sympathetic to physical suffering and there are numerous times in the bible where Jesus performed physical healing, I think my “final answer” to that question would have to be relationship. The ultimate end of healing is relational. Whether Jesus touched and made the leper clean, put mud in the blind guys eyes (I totally don’t get that!) and restored his sight, or raised the dead to life the core purpose was to tell the story of God the savior and our need for a restored relationship with Him. I see that most confirmed in the story of the paralytic whose friends lower him through the roof to Jesus. Jesus first words were, “Friend your sins are forgiven.” It wasn’t until after Jesus was aware of those questioning Him that He said, “…so you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” and then He goes on to say to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.”

If the ultimate desire of healing is relational, it then leads me to believe that it is not futile to pray for healing (or any other request for that matter)…even when what I am praying for doesn’t occur. Prayer is primarily a participation in a relationship not an outcome. It’s just like how it is with my kids. I don't meet every request of my boys even if I can. It is not always in their best interest or in the best interest of the big picture to do so. I do, however; want them to participate in relationship with me…to dialog about their hearts desire and engage me.

I will continue to ask and bring my requests to God, but I want to be more intent on seeking relationship with God in the process than on getting a desired outcome.

Kent