Healing For Today

Is healing for today? This question comes up quite frequently. For many people, the answer is yes, but for some, the answer is no. So what is the RIGHT answer? Let's look at the Bible for the answer.

First, let's look at the "No" factor. For most people, healing is a thing of the past; they say, "God may have healed 2,000 years ago, but He doesn't heal today." Is this true? Jeremiah 17:14 says, "Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise." What does God say? He says, "Yes": In Jeremiah 30:17, He says, "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD..."

Still, many have objections to healing. Here are a few of them:

"I've been so bad..." For them, they are hurting so much and they have done so much wrong to themselves and others that they wonder if God will really heal them. The answer here is an emphatic "YES!" There is healing for backsliders: Hosea 14:4 I states, "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him." If you think that this applies just to the OT, then look at this passage: Luke 15:3-7 "So He spoke this parable to them, saying: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? "And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. "And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." Jesus is the one who said this. If you want to argue that it's not for today, then what about all the people who are being saved on a daily basis? They are the evidence: there is forgiveness for backsliders! 1 John 1: 9 states, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And I also believe (based on what will be presented) that if your sins have led to physical problems, there is healing in the Lord!

For others, the excuse to not believe in healing is as follows: "God's chastening me." It is more commonly known as follows: "I prayed, and God didn't answer; He must be teaching me a lesson." While it is true that the Bible talks about reproof, this does not mean that you are sick because God is chastening you. God will NEVER throw sickness on you! Just look in the Bible; everywhere Jesus went, He healed. He never once put a sickness on people (the apostles did, and in the OT, God did many times, but these were in extreme instances, usually involving obstinate unbelief or disobedience)! Take as an example, the man born blind in John 9: When the disciples asked Jesus, "Who sinned? This man or his parents, that he was born blind?" -- they were in effect saying: "What did this man do wrong?" -- Jesus responded, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." Was Jesus saying that God put this blindness on the man even though the man had not sinned to cause it? Was God just trying to teach the man a lesson? No! The literal translation is as follows: Neither this man nor his parents sinned." PERIOD. Then, "But that the works of God should be revealed in him, [notice the common here, instead of the period] I must work the works of Him who sent Me..." So Jesus said that the works of God were revealed in the man THROUGH HIS HEALING! (You can read more on this topic by checking out this post: The Chastening of the Lord.) When God is chastening, you probably will feel pain; but this pain is not because of an illness -- it is because God is digging deep into your heart where it hurts, where it's uncomfortable, and telling you to change things. Only in that sense, does the Lord inflict pain on people as chastening; however, the Bible also says that God heals those whom He reproofs: Hosea 6:1 states, "Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up." Job 5:18 reinterates the same principle: "For He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole."

The next objection -- and this is where the "yes" factor comes in eventually -- is as follows: People say, "I prayed for healing, and it didn't happen; therefore, God doesn't heal today." But there are a few problems with that. First, this is totally failing to recognize the thousands upon thousands (and perhaps, even, millions) of people who are healed on a daily basis. Just because healing does not happen to one, this does not mean that God is not in the healing business today. So why does this happen? Well, first of all, we should always remember that God does not show personal favoritism to anyone; if He healed one, he will heal another. Secondly, it is important to realize that healing doesn't come when a heart is hardened to it. Jesus said, in Matthew 13:15, "For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Now before you get all made at me, let me explain, because most people will say, "I want to be healed. How can you say that my heart is hardened?!" Well, there is a big difference between wanting to be healed and actually believing that it will happen. Too often, people say, "I believe that the Lord can heal me," but they don't believe that He WILL heal them. This is called doubting, and it ties God's hands behind His back, so to speak. James tells us that if we doubt, we shouldn't expect to receive anything from the Lord. Actually, remember what Jesus said to the man who said, "But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us" (Mark 9:22-25)? Jesus said, "If you can believe; all things are possible to him who believes." There is healing for you, if you believe, but sadly, most people don't. (And for some, they are not healed, simply because they've had enough and wish to "go home.")

But before you can believe for your healing, there is one thing you must do first: you must come to Him! Jesus told His disciples, "And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, 'The kingdom of God is come NIGH unto you'" (Luke 10:9). James 4:8 states, " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..." Matthew 8:2-3 is another prime example: "And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' Immediately his leprosy was cleansed." The leper's attitude was, "Whatever you want to do, Lord; if you want to heal me, you will. But if not, I'm content with that." That leper had faith! It must have taken much for him to come to Jesus; he was an outcast, yet he trudged through the populized places to get to Jesus! And Jesus healed him, prefaced with this phrase: "I AM willing! Be cleansed." Jesus is willing and able to heal you, but you must first believe that he WILL heal you. But you must first come to God. It's just like Hebrews 11:6 states, "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."

Still, the question remains, is healing for today? Well, Jesus told His disciples right before His ascension (Matthew 10:8), "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give." And they did just that: Acts 4:30 states, "By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus." I just learned that the disciples were still healing people in the name of Jesus around 110 A.D. -- that's approximately 80 years after Jesus' death and Resurrection! At that point, there was a major discussion as to whether or not healing was for THAT day and age! That should tell you something! And what about all the people who have been healed from then on to the present age? God is still in the healing business. The Bible says repeatedly that He doesn't change. If we really believe that, then we should also believe that the same God who healed 2,000 years ago, heals today! And if we really believe THAT, we will see God's healing manifested in our lives.

P.S. I'm in the procss of writing a novel on this topic, so make sure you check it out! (It's still in the developing stages, so please be patient. I plan to address many of these issues...)