A
reminder for today
When
Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed to the
LORD, "Remember, O LORD, how I have always been faithful to you and
have served you single-mindedly, always doing what pleases you." Then he
broke down and wept bitterly. (2 Kings 20:2-3)
King Hezekiah became very ill and Isaiah the prophet
brought a message to him: "This is
what the LORD says: Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die. You
will not recover from this illness." (Verse 1) The King became very
sad and prayed to the Lord. The Lord heard his prayer and healed him: I have heard your prayer and seen your
tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go
to the Temple of the LORD (Verse 5).
The Lord healed Hezekiah from his illness and added 15
years to his life. Why does God not heal everyone?
The
life context of the question is all too familiar. The issue arises in our
darkest hours—in the hospital ward, in the doctor's office, when the
unfavorable test results return. Our need often arises unexpectedly and then
consumes us.
Embedded
in the question are two key assumptions. First, that ours is a God of miracles,
including healing. A quick evaluation of Scripture attests that miracles
display God's power (Jer. 10:12), arouse wonder (Exod. 4:21), and function as a
sign to confirm his message (Matt. 12:39-40).
The
second assumption is that believers are instructed to pray fervently. The
Thessalonians are commanded to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thess. 5:17)
because habitual prayers express dependence on God. And positioned as little
children, we anticipate "good things" from our heavenly Father (Matt.
7:11). Yet three additional points are critical.
First, God does not always respond to our desires, and he
frequently allows circumstances we wish he would not. Theologically we call this sovereignty.
Inherent in our faith is the scriptural truth that God is in control. This
includes the events he directs and the circumstances he allows. He has the
power and responsibility to exercise his right over creation according to his
will (Ps. 50:1 Ps. 115:3).
Yet
God repeatedly chooses to veil the ways in which he exercises those rights.
Hence our requests will not always coincide with God's response. Peter
understood this as it applied to suffering: "So then, those who suffer
according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and
continue to do good" (1 Pet. 4:19).
Second, our tendency is to doubt God's sovereignty in the
midst of tumultuous times.
Unfortunately, when we doubt we presume to comprehend more than he does. Yes,
from our vantage point, we might think that God's miraculous intervention would
produce waves of affirmation to his authority. Yet, in reply to the "rich
man," Jesus said, "If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets,
they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead" (Luke
16:31).
Instead,
the nature of our faith is to be "certain of what we do not see" (Heb.
11:1). While the world looks for proof in signs and wonders, we should never
forget that "the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are
perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor.
1:18). It is in this power that he asks us to trust in him.
Third, we must embrace the sufficiency of God's grace in
all circumstances. In
other words, it is imperative that the God of the mountaintop also be the God
of the valley. The apostle Paul requested three times to be healed of his
"thorn in the flesh." The response from the Lord? "My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12:9).
The sufficiency of God's grace is found in that we can endure suffering just as
Jesus endured the Cross!
Jesus
endured for the "joy set before him" (Heb. 12:2), and God's grace
allows us to do the same. Our affliction is purposeful and passing, and
although we may not be able to understand it, we must cling to God's goodness
and follow the pattern of his Son.
So we
are left with this: We do not know why God allows one to be healed and others
not. We have all been touched by situations where God did not heal despite the
faithful prayers of his people.
The
words of Alister McGrath in Mystery of the Cross (Zondervan, 1990) are well
posed:
"Experience
cannot be allowed to have the final word—it must be judged and shown up as
deceptive and misleading. The theology of the Cross draws our attention to the sheer
unreliability of experience as a guide to the presence and activity of God. God
is active and present in his world, quite independently of whether we
experience him as being so. Experience declared that God was absent from
Calvary, only to have its verdict humiliatingly overturned on the third
day."
As
with the Cross, our darkest hour may be God's finest moment. It may be there
that he does his greatest work—albeit unseen to us. Thus instead of letting
circumstances consume us, we are to be consumed with God. To that end, we pray
without ceasing, trust in his sovereignty, and find comfort in his hope.
(Mark
M. Yarbrough, pastor at Eastfield Bible Chapel and executive director of
communications at Dallas Theological Seminary.)
Have and awesome day dear friend of Jesus
Cheers
