[What should you think when healing seems far away? I share 7 things I learned about healing that helped me and may help you too.]
1. Healing Is A Mystery
The first thing I learned about healing is that healing is as mysterious as God Himself.
Yes, God is great and mysterious, but we should not fear nor give up because:
There are some things we can know for sure from Scripture, such as:
- God loves us dearly! He has compassion on us and provides healing today—for me and you. What was true in Bible days is true now. Healing is available for you and me, here and now!
- We are able to receive healing by Jesus’s great sacrifice. It is by His stripes we are healed (Isa 53:5).
- And we can know that ultimately our healing is about our relationship with our Lord. In fact, all of God’s dealings with humanity from the beginning of creation have ultimately been about our relationship with our Creator in one way or another.
However, there are some things we will never know:
- Some things can only be known on the other side of this life.
- What we learn and know gives us only partial knowledge. In our flawed human understanding, we see partial truth dimly as if it were reflected in a scratchy mirror.[1]
2. There Are Various Ways Healing Happens
I remember healing evangelist and university founder, Oral Roberts teaching that God has different ways (streams) of healing. For example, God can heal through sunshine, diet, or physical activity; He can heal through love and acceptance; or He can heal through a kiss on a boo boo.
He can heal through healthy foods and vitamins; He can heal through a word of knowledge; or He can use someone’s gift of healing.
He can heal through communion; through confession and forgiveness; through His Word, through worship, through anointing with oil, or through the simple prayer in faith of one who believes.
He can also heal through the medical profession.
3. Doctors Are God’s Grace To Us
I have learned that medical doctors are God’s grace to us. He could leave us without hope in the consequences of our own sin, sickness, and death.
However, He continues to have compassion on us in our pain and gives revelation knowledge to scientists and practitioners to discover more about the human body and how it reacts to various treatments.
I thank God for His compassion and the grace He gives in the form of the medical profession.
4. Ask God Questions
I learned that if I need physical healing, I should seek God to hear what He is saying about my specific situation.
We need to know for ourselves what God is saying about our specific situation and be willing to obey.
I began to have facial spasms in 1997 when I spearheaded the start of a Christian school. Thinking it was simply stress, I brushed it off and thought it would go away when I got some rest.
It only got worse over the next few years. Yes of course I prayed and got prayer from others. In fact, I asked for prayer from anyone and everyone.
Just like most of us, when I couldn’t find answers in other people, I began getting serious with God about my situation.
All I heard, was, “I’m going to heal you.” So, I got excited. God was going to heal me. But the years dragged on, and I only got worse. So I sought God more on the matter. I heard Him say, “Go to the doctors, they will help you until I heal you.”
Over the next bunch of years, I went from one doctor to the next, to the next, still holding onto the belief that one day God would heal me. I went to MDs, and I went to specialists, and I sought out alternative treatments. Some of you know what I am talking about. The woman with the issue of blood in the Scriptures understood this too.
Throughout my life, I have known God’s miraculously healing power for myself and my family. When my now 33-year old daughter was a baby, God miraculously healed her of an incurable blood disease. And God miraculously healed my dad of heart blockages without surgery—three times!
I have prayed for other people, and they were healed of many different things including migraines, cancer, and anxiety attacks.
I knew the power of God’s healing, but this condition only got worse.
When Healing Seems Far Away
The neurologist said the MRI showed there was a problem with a nerve in my brain stem, and there was nothing they could do for me but deaden the facial nerves so they wouldn’t contract so much.
Without treatment, I couldn’t read or work on my computer—which is what my life revolves around. Driving was difficult. I was embarrassed, and religious people stared at me like I was possessed.
But I trusted what God had said to me personally. This issue was between me and Him, and He was going to heal me.
In the fall of 2017, my sister and I went to a meeting, and I really connected with one of the messages and the testimony of the minister’s healing. She had fought for healing of a brain stem problem and received her healing.
So, I went up afterward to speak to her, and she prayed for me. I was immediately overcome by the power of God and sat bent over on those chairs for two straight hours with wave after wave of God’s power cleansing my soul and doing a deep healing work in my heart and life.
I can’t understand or explain everything about this, but I know I haven’t been back to the doctor for the treatment of facial spasms since.
5. Explore Heart Issues for Healing
I have learned there are many and various reasons for illness, some we may discover and some we may not. Illness can involve the mind, the body, the emotions, and sometimes all of these together.
When I was director of a faith-based women’s rehabilitation center, women would come into the program with all kinds of health problems. Many times, within the first week or two we would see them healed of various issues, simply because they changed their life’s direction to focus on God. They learned the healing power of forgiveness, worship, and God’s Word.
3 John 1:2 tells us, “Beloved, I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.”
As their souls began to heal and prosper, they began to prosper in all other areas. God healed them of things such as stomach problems, heart problems, asthma, migraines, nightmares, and anxiety. We saw miracles of all kinds, physical, mental, and emotional.
For the women who entered the program, our residential rehabilitation center provided a much-needed spiritual cleansing and offered a place that concentrated on healing the soul.
For most of us, who can’t go into a spiritually protected bubble to recover from life, we will need to find biblical counseling or prayer ministry and/or books and Biblical resources to help find healing for the traumas, hurts, and disappointments of life.
The Heart Matters
The inner life of our heart is of utmost importance to God, for out of our inner heart flows the springs of life.
The Scriptures admonish us to guard and keep our heart with all diligence.[2]
Many people are not aware of things deep inside their heart.
And yet in some instances, physical healing is connected with some deep undetected heart issue. I would encourage you to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal roots of issues to you—as you are ready to deal with them.
When your soul (mind/will/emotions) finds healing, many times physical healings also happen.
To begin this healing journey, ask God to lead you in the right direction to find the answers you need.
6. God’s Word Is Powerful To Heal
The Word of God is powerful God-energy that is active and effective for all that we need.[3]
I learned that we can take God’s words deep into our souls to heal. We can fill our thoughts with His words until they penetrate deep into our soul and spirit.
Then, as we unwrap those God-breathed words, they will impart true life and radiant health into the very core of our being (Proverbs 4:21-22).
I have learned to ask God for a focus verse. When God gives or highlights a verse to you, this becomes His promise of hope to you in a troubling time. You can hold on to this verse and trust God to accomplish the Word He gave to you.
One of my mentors suggested, (and insisted for growth) we read or listen to books of the Bible each day. She said if we weren’t getting the results we wanted in life, we should “up” our time in God’s Word to keep the Word going into our heart and mind for hours each day.
There was a season in my life I listened or read the Word nearly all day long, every day.
And God knew I would need it. Because soon tragedy came, and I was able to go through that next season valiantly with an amazing strength from God. I did not “go to pieces.” I did not “fall apart.” I did not end up “on my deathbed.” Because I had already grown healthy and strong in the Spirit of God’s Word.
When other people have through the same kind of thing, I have seen their life shattered and ruined. But the power of God’s Word not only healed me but protected and kept me. I still go through times when I feel a deep need for the strength of a prolonged time in the Word and so will listen for hours to my Bible app. The power of the Word washes me and strengthens me and builds my faith.
And it will do the same for you, if you get it inside you.
7. Believe And Continue To Believe for Healing
And finally, I have learned that success goes to those who persevere.
It is awful, but true nonetheless, that all of life is a fight because there is an evil enemy out there whose sole purpose is to take us down. Sometimes there is no reason for sickness except that the enemy is trying to take us out of the game.
He will test our patience and perseverance. He will test every part of who we are.
God desires we turn to Him (our life-giving Creator Father) for everything we need in this life.
Sometimes we have to get tired of doing things our own way, in our own strength, and turn to Him. God allows our belief in Him to be tested so that we may be purified in our belief and praise. Our genuine, tested, purified, eternal faith in Him is more precious to God than gold that perishes.[4]
We learn through circumstances to hold on in faith believing before we are healed so that we can hold on to our healing after we are healed. Even after we are healed, the enemy may come to take our healing.
We Learn to Trust God
There are some illnesses that as soon as we pray, they are gone and stay gone forever.
But there are some illnesses that we have to attack with prayer, the Word, worship, and every other tool we have available, each and every day.
So, I have learned to remember it is a fight of faith before we are healed and after. We believe and continue to believe each day.
Life itself is a journey of relationship with our Creator, so that whether through a miracle or through perseverance in faith and grace, His glory is revealed in our lives.
To conclude this little article before it turns into a book, I will say again, there are many things we do not know about healing here and now.
But we are still not without hope. I remember Oral Roberts saying that if you are not healed now on this earth, you will certainly be healed in the resurrection.
God bless you friends on your continued faith journey!
You may be interested in the article, Why Do I Still Hurt? & A Prayer to Heal Painful Memories.
Notes:
Dear Cynthia
You have been a tremendous blessing to me and the pilgrims I journey with. Your articles are deeply rooted in his word.
I pray more grace upon your life to continue as a vessel of his glory.
Joyce
Thank you so much for your beautiful comment and your prayers, dear Joyce. Blessings!