My husband threw out a question that I thought had great merit to ponder and perhaps blog about.

He asked, “Do people want God to hold them or heal them?”

I, at first answered, “Healed.”

I then asked myself, what is the difference?

God holding us means that we are right in the center of His will, regardless of what is going on around us. When He holds us, we feel Him, we connect with Him, sometimes in particularly close times, you almost can hear His heart beating.

When you are held in the hands of the one who is in charge of everything, even if your world is crashing in around you, you feel safe. How could anything get in to harm you if God is holding you? It does not mean it will be easy but it will be okay.

On the other hand, God healing us, is often thought about in our North America “drive through” terms, the quick fix. I pull up to God either on my butt or knees, put in my order as I cry out and compel and implore Him to heal me, then I expect the miracle to happen right away.

If it does not happen right away, I start to wonder if God loves me, or if God has noticed my pain , I may even start to analyze if there is sin in my life and start down the road of self condemnation. Unfortunately there are usually other people to help you with this one: what did you do? you know if you had taken better care of yourself.....

This form of healing does not emit the feelings of love, tenderness, or closeness at all like being held.

When we study the question of being held or being healed, perhaps we have to ask ourselves what is it that we really want?

Closeness or healing.

Think of it, when a baby or small child falls down, it is instant tears and crying. Mom picks up the child, hugs it and places it back down on the ground, off they toddle without looking back. Are they secure because Mom did a miraculous healing? No they are secure because Mom was there.

When a child or teenager has a heart break and mom or dad comes in and wraps their arms around them, holds them close and wipes their tears - it is a bonding time that spoke to your heart and you remember. Did they actually fix anything? Nope and they did not need to, they were simply there.

Question to ask yourself when you are going to get prayer for healing: do I want healing or do I want the closeness of being held? Your answer just might surprise you.