At Least We Have our Health

How many times have you heard the aforementioned response after someone has experienced a severe hardship? Most of us can weather nearly any storm as long as we can have the stamina to withstand it. On the heels of a bankruptcy, we can do without a new car or a family vacation. After being laid off from our job, we can tighten the financial belt a little tighter and skip going out to eat as much. But what do you do when your body is buffeted by sickness and pain? How do you keep your hope intact? Wherein lies your secondary line of defense?

The mountains we face that take the form of sickness of disease touch us where we are most vulnerable. The ruthlessness of terminal illness or the relentlessness of chronic sickness can batter even the strongest man or woman into submission. Where can a person go to elude it?

It's no wonder Jesus' earthly ministry focused, to a great extent, on meeting the physical and emtotional needs of the people of his day. By healing the sick, Jesus touched people where God's love intersects with human experience. What many call a "power encounter" drew people closer to the Father.

Jesus healed people because He loved them. "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick" (Matt 14:14) He didn't heal them because He owed it to them, He did it simply because He had compassion for them.

The good news is Jesus hasn't changed. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" (Heb 13:8) He is still moved with compassion when He sees us in pain, and He still heals today just as He did two thousand years ago.

We pray for healing, believing that God can and does heal. We relentlessly pursue Him with our request until we receive an answer. But we also trust Him. Faith and prayer move God, but the decision to heal still remains with Him. Sometimes God heals on this earth. Sometimes He doesn't. And we don't always know why. That's part of the mystery of God. Yet without prayer, no one would have the hope of encountering His divine intervention to remove their mountains of sickness and disease.

(Asbtract from Prayers to Move Your Mountains, Thomas Nelson Publishers pp. 202-3)