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This editorial has been nagging
at me for two weeks. I typed the title, "Does believing
make us healthy?" Everyone knows the answer should be an
unqualified yes. The Bible tells us so. The research confirms
it. Who can argue with God and science?
However, as I sat at my computer
to write, chills wracked my body. My temp was over 100º
and rising. The flu bug won-I went to bed. Later that week,
my good friend Mabel died. A dear saint of a woman, she
had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer only about six
weeks before. We had been praying desperately for her. But
she died anyway, and I was too sick to go to the funeral.
This week I started out feeling
pretty good, then a family crisis threw us into chaos again.
My blood pressure shot up. This isn't supposed to happen-didn't
some of that research show that blood pressure levels of
those who faithfully attend worship stay lower? The scientific
proof wasn't holding much stock for me. Then that evening
my husband and I read in our devotions: "We can rejoice,
too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that
they are good for us-they help us learn to endure. And endurance
develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens
our confident expectation of salvation. And this expectation
will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves
us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our
hearts with his love" (Rom 5:3-4, NLT). Well, I wasn't rejoicing,
and I was too tired to think about character development.
So, how can I answer my proposed
question: Does believing make us healthy? The best answer
I can come up with is "Yes, but . . ." The whole trajectory
of the Bible moves toward health and healing. That is what
salvation is all about. The in-breaking kingdom of God is
constantly announced by healing events--curing physical
diseases, casting out demons, freeing captives, restoring
relationships, establishing loving communities. But we live
in the now-and-not-yet kingdom of God. We must still face
the consequences of sin and evil at work in the world. We
can do everything we should to care for our health, but
sometimes the viruses or the cancer cells win out. We can
raise our children with all the love and discipline we know
how to provide, but sometimes peer pressure gets a firmer
grasp than our own.
Should we continue to pray for
healing, even if it doesn't always work? Of course we should.
The purpose of prayer is not to manipulate God into giving
us what we want. It is the language of relationship-a dependent,
family relationship with God. We don't give our kids everything
they ask for, because we know it would not be good for them.
Sometimes the answer is a flat-out no. Sometimes it is later.
At other times we challenge them to demonstrate the responsibility
to handle the desired privilege or to work for the money
to buy the coveted item. However, we definitely want our
children to keep talking to us, to tell us what they hope
for and dream of doing. Through it all, we provide guidance
and encouragement. God wants the same from us. He wants
us to get beyond enduring the trials to developing character.
That's hard work, but, if anything, parenthood has given
me a great deal of sympathy for God's side of the process.
It seems that the Christian life
is more about process than perfection. While God often does
heal miraculously, that isn't usually the end of the story.
Several years ago a legally blind woman attending a conference
where I was teaching miraculously received her sight in
response to healing prayer. However, she died of a myocardial
infarction several months later. Her friends and family
kept asking, "Why did God restore her sight only to let
her die so soon?" We don't know, but those last months of
her life were full of joy and deep fellowship with the Lord.
Every one of the people Jesus healed eventually died. All
of the people we pray for will die, but we know that is
not the end. Our task on earth is to learn to live in relationship
with God and with one another as loving children in God's
family. We receive his gifts with joy and thanksgiving;
we hold each other up during the hard times. And, in the
end, we look forward to a great family reunion when sickness,
suffering, death and destruction will be no more. In the
meantime we learn to joyfully endure the problems and trials,
believing God and developing Christian character. That's
health.--JAS
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