By Erin Elizabeth Austin
I have a confession to make. Before I started our Believing God series, I printed out a list of all the different names of God used throughout the Bible. As I was reading the list, I came across a name I immediately decided I didn’t want to write about. The reason for this is because, to be perfectly honest, it’s a touchy subject for most Christians. There are many different viewpoints on this particular topic, and quite honestly, I didn’t want to touch this subject with a ten-foot pole. Yet God won’t let me move past this subject. So, let’s all take a deep breath and step into God’s Word to see what He has to say about this.
Have you guessed what the topic is yet? If your answer is healing, give yourself a gold star! The name of God for the week is Jehovah-Rapha, which means “The Lord who heals.” Deep subject, I know. I can hear many of you yelling, “If God heals, then why am I sick?” Like I said, this is going to be tough devotion to read, but we need to address this area because it’s one of the main reasons why people struggle to truly believe God. In fact, this is such a complex, multifaceted subject, it’s going to take us several weeks to address everything God has to say about healing. So hang with me in the next several weeks, because we’re going to take an honest, in-depth look at healing and believing God when sickness prevails.
Personally, I’ve lost count of how many times someone has told me that if I believed God would heal me, then He would. Yet I’ve prayed, been anointed with oil, and believed with all my heart I would be healed and the sickness remained. And I was left wondering if I didn’t have enough faith or if God was simply a liar.
I have a confession to make. Before I started our Believing God series, I printed out a list of all the different names of God used throughout the Bible. As I was reading the list, I came across a name I immediately decided I didn’t want to write about. The reason for this is because, to be perfectly honest, it’s a touchy subject for most Christians. There are many different viewpoints on this particular topic, and quite honestly, I didn’t want to touch this subject with a ten-foot pole. Yet God won’t let me move past this subject. So, let’s all take a deep breath and step into God’s Word to see what He has to say about this.
Have you guessed what the topic is yet? If your answer is healing, give yourself a gold star! The name of God for the week is Jehovah-Rapha, which means “The Lord who heals.” Deep subject, I know. I can hear many of you yelling, “If God heals, then why am I sick?” Like I said, this is going to be tough devotion to read, but we need to address this area because it’s one of the main reasons why people struggle to truly believe God. In fact, this is such a complex, multifaceted subject, it’s going to take us several weeks to address everything God has to say about healing. So hang with me in the next several weeks, because we’re going to take an honest, in-depth look at healing and believing God when sickness prevails.
Personally, I’ve lost count of how many times someone has told me that if I believed God would heal me, then He would. Yet I’ve prayed, been anointed with oil, and believed with all my heart I would be healed and the sickness remained. And I was left wondering if I didn’t have enough faith or if God was simply a liar.
I have studied this subject more than any other subject in the Bible. It’s taken years of study and prayer, but I’ve learned a couple of things, as a result. The first thing we need to stop and realize is that for many of us, our definition of faith is wrong. We’re told that we must have faith God will do something for us, like healing us from our diseases. But that’s not faith! Faith is believing God - period. It’s as simple as that. God is not a genie in a bottle who answers our every whim. He can do what He wants. We are called to believe Him, not for what He can do for us, but for whom He is. Stop and think about that for a moment. No one wants to be friends with someone who likes you because of what you’ll do for them. You want to be friends with someone because they like you. God is the same way. He wants a relationship with us. That’s what faith is – believing God is the one true God. He’s the all-powerful, ever-present Lord of all creation, and He loves you and me. It’s saying that you know God is bigger and greater than you. He sees and understands things we can’t begin to comprehend, and He will do what’s best for us.
That’s the next thing that hinders us in believing God. We think since we’re sick and going through a difficult time, that must mean God doesn’t love us. Again, that’s WRONG! Time after time in Scripture we see people going through sickness, financial difficulties, hardship, and even death, yet God was with them. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is found in Daniel 3. For those who aren’t familiar with this passage, King Nebuchadnezzar built a 90-foot statue and ordered everyone to bow down to it. Knowing they would be sentenced to death by fire if they didn’t obey, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused to worship anyone other than God. Their faith in God was rewarded by them being thrown into a fiery furnace. Not much of a reward if you ask me. Yet I’ve learned something through studying this passage. There are three things which can happen when we’re praying to be delivered from something. The first is that we can be delivered from the fire. This is when the doctor runs tests, we pray the tests show nothing negative, and God answers our prayer and everything is okay. This is the one we all hope for. The second way we can be delivered from a trial is by going through the fire. This is where a lot of us are at. The test results come back, the doctor gives us a diagnosis, and we have to learn how to live with a chronic illness. We’ll come back next week and talk in more detail about this. The last way we can be delivered from a trial is we can be delivered by the fire. This is the one we struggle with the most. It’s when we’re praying for someone’s healing and the person dies.
This is heavy stuff. There’s a reason why so many Christians struggle to believe God. It’s not that He’s not trustworthy, but this area makes us take a step back and question if God is who He says He is and if He will do what He says He will do. God’s Word has so much to say about this that we’re going to camp on this topic for a couple of weeks, because if we aren’t honest with ourselves and with God, we will never get past this. God wants us to believe Him with every area of our lives. He can handle your questions. Don’t hide from Him. As you go through this next week, I encourage you to set aside some time to pray about this. Examine your heart and see if you wrestle with this topic. You might be surprised at what God has to say.
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” ~ Jeremiah 33:3
© March 2, 2017
This is heavy stuff. There’s a reason why so many Christians struggle to believe God. It’s not that He’s not trustworthy, but this area makes us take a step back and question if God is who He says He is and if He will do what He says He will do. God’s Word has so much to say about this that we’re going to camp on this topic for a couple of weeks, because if we aren’t honest with ourselves and with God, we will never get past this. God wants us to believe Him with every area of our lives. He can handle your questions. Don’t hide from Him. As you go through this next week, I encourage you to set aside some time to pray about this. Examine your heart and see if you wrestle with this topic. You might be surprised at what God has to say.
“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” ~ Jeremiah 33:3
© March 2, 2017
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