A conversation on healing
So somehow I got on the subject of God and healing with someone (names have been changed to protect the ...). I've heard comments like, if you have enough faith then you will be healed. Also, name it and claim it! ...since when did we become God?
I was pushed to give my opinion on the matter, and I just sighed. Two things I hate discussing with people who are not very close friends, religion and politics. Don't get me wrong, I'll discuss my faith with all. I have no problem telling anyone that Jesus is my Savior, He has saved my soul from hell, and I was more than deserving of being sent there. But when people start getting into denominational discussions I've found that more often than not what people really want is to be right, and to convince you they are right. No one wants to agree to disagree, or look at each side objectively, they'd rather it turn into a brawl of words, where no one wins, and usually at least one person goes away angry. Trust me, I spent time in a ministry where that was common place. I was the odd ball, a baptist. More than once I was "baited", and not too often did I bite. But I had my moments. I'm open, I'll listen and be objective. It may not change what I believe, but does that really matter? And I've learned more than one thing by listening.
So I don't pretend to have all the answers. I know who does, God, and He chooses or chooses not to tell me as He wishes. Does the child tell the parent how to raise him or her? If I've learned one thing, all that advise my parents gave growing up...it was right. They weren't perfect, but they were Godly, so more often than not they spoke as God gave them guidance. How much more can God teach me as I let Him raise me?
Okay, so the healing discussion. My best friends father in law has cancer. Bad cancer. Pancreatic cancer that has spread, and they've given him 3 to 6 months to live. There has been a glimmer of hope at the research hospital he is at. Anyway, someone has suggested that if he has enough faith, if enough believers have enough faith, he will be healed. If we petition God then God is obligated (yes that word was used) to answer us. Really? Look, we all want him to be healed. But we live in a fallen world. Sin entered the world and with that, disease and bad things happen. But God uses the bad things in our life and can turn them into good. How you say? My recovery from alcoholism is a good example. It was terrible, bad, I hurt lots of people and was hurt. But now, on the other side of the disease, I'm able to help others. Recovering alcoholics are funny creatures. We tend to want to hear other people who have been through the same thing we have, because they have an understanding. Same, it seems, with those who have battled cancer. We, who haven't had it, can sympathize, but when someone else goes through it, or as a loved one who has died from it, and they make it through the trial, they are able to help others but telling how God helped them through it, and possibly lead them to God.
What I take exception to is when we tell God what He is suppose to do, or even demand it, and then get mad at God when He doesn't do what we want. Have we forgotten the "thy will be done" in the Lord's Prayer? I don't wish anyone to get sick and if it weren't for a certain apple, couple, and a serpent then there wouldn't be any sickness. But there is. And somehow, in God's divine plan, He uses all that. Don't ask me to explain it all, I'm not God, but I trust that God has everything under control.
And by the way, our faith is growing as we saw things go from no hope, 3 to 6 months, to a glimmer of hope. We continue to petition God for healing and guide the doctors. In the process, the doctors at the hospital are seeing a man's faith in action. As he battles a fatal disease, He continues to praise God. Yes, there are times of tears and such, but He holds on and trusts God's will be done. So I'll trust God that He has it under control. Is it hard, yes. Watching someone hurt is not easy, especially when you can't do much about it. Anyway, I know this is more of a rant than anything, and whether you agree or disagree with me isn't that important to me. Sometimes I write these posts just to remind myself how big God is and He really does have all this in His hands.
Speaking of healing, I've got alot of chigger bites on my right ankle. I've researched the internet looking for home remedies, because ChiggerX does NOT work! Anyway, any of you have any advise?
Baa
I was pushed to give my opinion on the matter, and I just sighed. Two things I hate discussing with people who are not very close friends, religion and politics. Don't get me wrong, I'll discuss my faith with all. I have no problem telling anyone that Jesus is my Savior, He has saved my soul from hell, and I was more than deserving of being sent there. But when people start getting into denominational discussions I've found that more often than not what people really want is to be right, and to convince you they are right. No one wants to agree to disagree, or look at each side objectively, they'd rather it turn into a brawl of words, where no one wins, and usually at least one person goes away angry. Trust me, I spent time in a ministry where that was common place. I was the odd ball, a baptist. More than once I was "baited", and not too often did I bite. But I had my moments. I'm open, I'll listen and be objective. It may not change what I believe, but does that really matter? And I've learned more than one thing by listening.
So I don't pretend to have all the answers. I know who does, God, and He chooses or chooses not to tell me as He wishes. Does the child tell the parent how to raise him or her? If I've learned one thing, all that advise my parents gave growing up...it was right. They weren't perfect, but they were Godly, so more often than not they spoke as God gave them guidance. How much more can God teach me as I let Him raise me?
Okay, so the healing discussion. My best friends father in law has cancer. Bad cancer. Pancreatic cancer that has spread, and they've given him 3 to 6 months to live. There has been a glimmer of hope at the research hospital he is at. Anyway, someone has suggested that if he has enough faith, if enough believers have enough faith, he will be healed. If we petition God then God is obligated (yes that word was used) to answer us. Really? Look, we all want him to be healed. But we live in a fallen world. Sin entered the world and with that, disease and bad things happen. But God uses the bad things in our life and can turn them into good. How you say? My recovery from alcoholism is a good example. It was terrible, bad, I hurt lots of people and was hurt. But now, on the other side of the disease, I'm able to help others. Recovering alcoholics are funny creatures. We tend to want to hear other people who have been through the same thing we have, because they have an understanding. Same, it seems, with those who have battled cancer. We, who haven't had it, can sympathize, but when someone else goes through it, or as a loved one who has died from it, and they make it through the trial, they are able to help others but telling how God helped them through it, and possibly lead them to God.
What I take exception to is when we tell God what He is suppose to do, or even demand it, and then get mad at God when He doesn't do what we want. Have we forgotten the "thy will be done" in the Lord's Prayer? I don't wish anyone to get sick and if it weren't for a certain apple, couple, and a serpent then there wouldn't be any sickness. But there is. And somehow, in God's divine plan, He uses all that. Don't ask me to explain it all, I'm not God, but I trust that God has everything under control.
And by the way, our faith is growing as we saw things go from no hope, 3 to 6 months, to a glimmer of hope. We continue to petition God for healing and guide the doctors. In the process, the doctors at the hospital are seeing a man's faith in action. As he battles a fatal disease, He continues to praise God. Yes, there are times of tears and such, but He holds on and trusts God's will be done. So I'll trust God that He has it under control. Is it hard, yes. Watching someone hurt is not easy, especially when you can't do much about it. Anyway, I know this is more of a rant than anything, and whether you agree or disagree with me isn't that important to me. Sometimes I write these posts just to remind myself how big God is and He really does have all this in His hands.
Speaking of healing, I've got alot of chigger bites on my right ankle. I've researched the internet looking for home remedies, because ChiggerX does NOT work! Anyway, any of you have any advise?
Baa
Finger nail polish... clear is good. =) Just paint it over the chigger spot.
ReplyDeleteAnd, yes, in the end, my prayer is always, Thy Will be done.
Clear finger nail polish is best but doesn't help the itch, just smothers the chigger and kills it. Chigger rid (haven't heard of chiggerX) is ok. Butn nothing can help the itch till the chiggers are dead, sorry.
ReplyDeleteI always pray "Thy will be done", because why would you not want His will to be done?
I agree with the chigger remedy of clear nail polish. It smothers the critters. Also, I think as we all mature in the faith, we become less judgmental and more trusting in God to perform His perfect will. Death outcomes are always hard to take, but God makes a way for us. My dad died a year ago from complications of Parkinsons and other things, and we never stopped praying for his physical healing. His complete healing was in the death of his earthly body as his spirit is with the Lord. One day, his earthsuit will join up with him in heaven. Be blessed, saint of God.
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