If I Have Enough Faith ….

I want to introduce you to someone but first let me say this: There is a belief about “healing” shared by many “well meaning” people that is detrimental to people’s spirits and contrary to the Bible.

In my ministry I have had to do the work of holding broken people who believed it, to help instill truth into their beings and to tell them, they did have enough faith, it was not their own fault that they were sick.

The belief is that because you are a Christian then no evil can touch you nor do you ever have to be sick, just have enough faith and trust in Jesus.

Well it has become very evident in my experience of life that people do get ill, and Satan attacks all people because I have seen it, and testify to it.

There is absolutely nothing more harmful than to declare to a sick or dying person, “just have enough faith and you will get well!”

Or worse yet, telling parents they must have sinned or not had enough faith because their child was ill. Really? Have you read the Bible? I mean really read it?

You can no more heal yourself with “your faith” than you can “save yourself “ with your faith. Your healing and your salvation depend solely upon the One, Jesus Christ and His work.

Miracles still happen and when it does it is a exciting thing to see or experience. But to me there is another form of miracle, the faith of someone who still believes in the goodness of God and did not get a miracle.

Jesus was brutally murdered. 11 of 12 disciples were tortured and killed for their faith and these were Jesus’ personal friends.

John the Baptist, Jesus cousin, was beheaded.

Job was totally ripped of everything he had and God knew but still allowed it.

The Apostle Paul had an ailment, a thorn in his flesh.

Timothy the disciple had tummy issues.

“In this world you will have tribulation, troubles, sorrow ….” John 16:33.

No one promised or promises that because you are a Christian that life will be pain free, sickness free. No one. If anyone does imply that- it’s a different Bible they are reading .

Are there passages that say “God will heal every disease?” Absolutely there are, and He will but Gods healing can be instant, gradual, through a miracle, through medicine or even the healing of heaven. There are different forms of healing.

Yes! We are to ask for healing, we are to get prayer and anointed by the elders. But nothing guarantees a miracle but we can be confident that our healing is coming.

When we pray and ask God for healing we do not know what kind of healing we are getting so how then should we live? “Expectantly.”

We expect God to show up, but we cannot demand it or rub the magic lamp and expect Him to perform on demand. That is not faith, it’s a temper tantrum, I have those occasionally.

Let me introduce you to Joni Eareckson Tada. Joni had a diving accident when she was 17 years old that paralyzed her from the shoulders down. That was over 50 years ago. She absolutely loves God and is an author, radio show host and an artist. She is also an advocate for people with disabilities and this woman has faith!

I could tell you about her healing journey but she does it so much better than I. Please take the time to watch this video where she shares her personal journey.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xv_EEGnvees

When life drops a nuclear bomb into the center of your soul and you hear words like “sick, paralyzed, treatment, cancer, death” you honestly wonder why? That is normal.

You then move on to: God could fix it if He chose to and it brings a sense of anger at God and we try to pull and manipulate His strings with many different ways. That also does not work.

My family doctor said to me, “If God the Father did not spare His Son pain and torture, why would we not expect to have some pain in our lives too? We know that one way or another God will heal us, either here on earth or in heaven, we win both ways.”

He is so right, he should know he daily ministers to hundreds of people who are sick. He has seen miracles and believes in them but he has seen the outcome when no miracle happens.

All the people in the Bible who received miracles of healing are now dead. Even Lazarus who was raised from the dead, had to die again.

The miracle did not mean they got to live forever, the miracle healed them from that ailment at that time. The cycle of life is that we are born and eventually die. Only 2 people in the Bible were taken up to heaven before they had tasted death. Enoch and Elijah.

It is Easter… the excitement of Easter is the greatest miracle of all. The Resurrection. This Jesus who was brutally tortured, and murdered on a cross for all to see, did NOT stay dead.

He came back to life and walked around on earth for 40 days. He appeared to hundreds of people in His resurrected form. People were wrecked when they saw Him! A dead man walking and talking. Now that is a miracle that we can put our faith in.

Secular and Christian people of that day have given eye witness accounts of this happening. It is not just a Bible story, other writings mention it.

Jesus told His followers that it would happen but they had no idea what He was talking about- how could they? No one comes back to life….until now.

Jesus is the one - death could not keep.

Jesus is the one - satan could not defeat.

Jesus is the one - who said He will come back again.

Jesus is the one - who said “have faith in Me.”

Jesus is the One.