Healing

8-14-09
Yesterday I was contacted by the Evangel, a weekly publication reaching most of our churches nationwide with the assigned topic of writing a brief article on Healing. This morning I wrote the article on what happend to Micah some time ago and I am letting it be my blog for today. Your feedback is welcomed....and pray for it to be a blessing to many and spark healing graces of our Lord all over the place.
Thanks!
David

Title: Healing

Micah is our youngest son.
He was playing in a summer softball league….and broke his foot.
A trip to the doctor confirmed that it was broken – x-rays to substantiate.
And now the worries.
In just a few days he would be facing the extensive final medical clearance process which would clear him (?) to enter the army.
With a broken foot?
He came to see us for a final visit prior to the medical process.
Limping.
And before he was to leave, it “seemed like a good idea” that we pray over him.
He sat in the big, easy chair in the living room….and two of us knelt by him and began to pray softly – and with very limited faith…at least that is what it felt like to me. It had been a family time entirely, and now it was mostly a farewell moment.
Faith? I sure could not sense much of it…..just obedience, doing what Jesus told us to do as His followers.
As we prayed, invoking the name of Jesus over him, suddenly he came up out of the chair with a shriek. (I am embarrassed to admit it, but I thought I had done something wrong….or “laid hands on him” too firmly!)
After all, I thought we were just following the directive of scripture: “lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Lord, do I need to apologize to him?
Several days later he called us, having just seen an army doctor and explained the situation to him. The doctor took fresh x-rays and in a few minutes came back into the room, both sets of x-rays in hand. And he began the consultation with this question to our son:
“Are you a religious man?”
Micah’s answer: “Yes, Sir, I am.”
The doctor then said: “Well, I am too, and from all I know, I am holding the evidence of a miracle in my hands. In this set of x-rays your foot is broken, and in this set, it is healed. Your foot is fine and I have no problem clearing you to proceed with your plans to enlist.”
The shriek from Micah as we were praying over him was the bone being reset: God’s “hand” under ours.
(The pain he still felt to some degree in his foot, was simply the foot adjusting to the new wellness, and in several days, as the doctor predicted, the pain disappeared.)
Micah was cleared fully, enlisted, shipped out, and just weeks ago returned from a full tour of duty in Afghanistan.
No foot problems.
I reflect often on what happened….how easy it would have been to have not prayed, and instead told him we “would be praying” for him.
How often I have waited for a feeling inside of me, of inspiration or faith or energy, actually, I can see it now, falling into the trap of thinking that is something in me is the key to healing happening. How often I have tried to measure my own faith or preparedness so as to merit what is actually and fully God’s gracious action.
I so easily get it wrong.
More and more, I realize that healing occurs because God loves us, “knows the plans He has for us” and has an infinite measure of health to pour down upon us. He is full of grace and mercy…and surprises. And, as in the process of salvation, “it is not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Most (about 75%) of the healing moments in the New Testament are recorded as occurring in an informal setting…the “store,” the home, the business places, the seaside, on the road, in “the restaurant”…rather than in the more formal settings - the temple, the altar, the courts - church.
So often we limit the healing process to the formal settings, the prepared, the controlled, the predictable, the bright-light events. Could it be that we would enhance the in-breaking of the life of God in healing all around us, if we would not put limitations on His activity and plan? Yes, yes, yes.
So, my objective is to listen to the Spirit everywhere.
To acknowledge it is all of God…and so little about me at all.
To be in the laboratory of His life and activity every time it comes to my mind to do anything like Jesus.
And take the healing graces of our Lord with me everywhere I go.
Jesus said:
“’These are some of the signs that will accompany believers….they will lay hands on the sick and make them well.’
And the disciples went everywhere preaching,
the Master working right with them,
validating the message with indisputable evidence.”*
*From The Message – Mark 16:17-20.