Testament Tuesdays

The theme of my last week was Jack's MRI and fervent prayer for a treatment option for him. So naturally everything in the readings about healing jumped off the page at me. Did anyone else but me think every single day had a reference to Jesus healing a paralytic?

I think the thing that stood out the most was the regular connection of God's healing to people's faith. If I based my understanding of healing entirely on last week's reading, I could easily walk away with the notion that only those with enough faith could be healed and those who aren't healed are not because of their lack of faith. While this is true in some instances, I believe that healing is much more complex than that.

When I was a teenager, there was minister named Dave Busby speaking at youth camps and events. Busby was not only an incredibly anointed minister, but he was also had Cystic Fibrosis. One year when Busby was speaking under a tent at youth camp, the rain was so loud that the hundreds of kids there could not hear him. Busby stopped speaking and prayed that God would stop the winds and the rain so the kids could hear the message. Would you believe that the rain stopped instantly? It did. Here is my point - I don't think that a man with faith enough to stop a storm still had Cystic Fibrosis because he lacked the faith for God to heal him.

Another example is Jennifer Rothschild. You can google that name if you don't know who I am talking about. She is a blind minister who God is using in incredible ways right now. You know why I think Busby and Rothschild haven't been healed? I don't think it is because they lack the faith. I think it is because God can receive more glory through their conditions than through their healing. God often uses our struggles as a platform for ministry.

Jack's story isn't over and I don't know what God has planned for him, but I do know that I find encouragement in the fact that Jesus stopped regularly to heal the paralytic AND that He uses those He doesn't heal to do great ministry too. How wonderful that we serve a God who knows the desire of our hearts and the needs of our bodies.

If you have a blog and are participating in Testament Tuesdays, please link up here. I would love to read your thoughts. Otherwise, please leave a comment and let me know what God is teaching you through this time.