Early in the morning on 12 August 2018, I lay awake in bed and thought about an issue that I dealt with the day before. Someone had asked me if I wanted God to heal me of my auto-immune disease.
Upon thinking of the physical difficulties that the disease gives me, I said to myself, “Who wouldn’t want to be healed of such a disease?”
Then I thought of the possible earthly consequences I could encounter if I did receive such healing. I asked myself, “If God gives me such healing, then would He take care of the earthly consequences, too?”
My immediate answer was the correct one: Of course God would take care of the earthly consequences, too. If He is able to give me a miraculous healing, the He is fully capable of handling any earthly consequence that would result from the healing.
So, I acknowledged my desire to be healed, and I acknowledged God’s ability to heal me.
In short, I did what plenty of Christians with physical problems do.
Then I thought about my purpose for still being on planet Earth.
Was I still on Earth in order to live comfortably, or was I still on Earth in order to glorify God?
Sure, God could enable me to do both, but what was my goal?
Did I want God to heal me just so that I could be comfortable, or did I want such a healing in order for God to be glorified?
I know that God has been glorified through testimonies about miraculous healing. I rejoice when I read/hear such testimonies.
Still, I asked myself, “If God could glorify Himself more by not giving me healing, then would I be willing to continue having my physical disability?”
The Bible is full of stories about people being healed of debilitating conditions. One of them was carried by four of his friends to meet Jesus. The man was healed but not because of any faith on his part. Instead, Jesus healed him because of the faith of the four friends.
In contrast, the Apostle Paul was full of faith. Yet, God declined to give Paul the healing for himself that he requested.
So, how did Paul respond to not being healed?
“I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Paul had enough faith to not be healed. He had enough faith for God to be glorified through Paul’s infirmity.
That is the kind of faith that I want to have.
As Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:6, “Godliness with contentment is great gain.” I can have contentment with my lack of healing because I know that God is using my infirmity to bless others.
So, how should I respond when someone asks me if I want to be healed?
A valid response would be this: My faith in Jesus is strong enough that I don’t have to be healed. Hallelujah!