Exodus 15:26
That’s the place where God set up rules and procedures; that’s where he started testing them.
God
said, “If you listen, listen obediently to how God tells you to live in
his presence, obeying his commandments and keeping all his laws, then I
won’t strike you with all the diseases that I inflicted on the
Egyptians; I am God your healer.”
Scripture
quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002
by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs,
CO. All rights reserved.
We all know people who go to
see a doctor about a particular ailment, then they refuse to accept
his/her prescription. Maybe the doctor says, “You have skin cancer or
pre-cancerous cells. Stay out of the sun...wear a hat...use a high SPF
sunscreen every day!” Or the doctor tells you to stop smoking and/or
drinking...drop some pounds or eat less...drink more water...exercise
more...or change another lifestyle habit. A specific course of
treatment might be recommended...chemotherapy or other
medications...radiation...physical therapy...or surgery. And you might
walk out of the office and flatly refuse to do any of this.
Sometimes,
the doctor cannot heal us if we won’t allow it! This is especially true
when it comes to our relationship with God, our Great Healer. I will
tell you that I have spent a lot of time talking to God...telling Him my
“ailments”, worries, concerns and needs. But I haven’t always paid
attention to His “prescription”. I’m betting it is very much the same
for you.
Do not misunderstand me...if you are sick right now and
cannot seem to improve, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you are not
listening and doing everything you are being told to do...that God is
not healing you as a form of punishment. I believe that our definition
of “healing” is very different from God’s. In her book Feathers From My Nest*,
author/speaker Beth Moore tells about moving from Arkansas to Texas as a
teenager. Her parents would not delay their departure for even one hour
so that she could get in a car and go down the street with friends for a
“farewell lunch”. Upon arriving in Texas, they learned that the teens
had been in a serious car accident, and that at one was injured and two
were killed – including her best friend in the whole world. Beth Moore
relates how she had been so angry with her parents for their
decision...had hardly spoken a word to them all the way to their new
home. While she still doesn’t fully understand why this tragedy
happened, Moore says that she realized that her safety – and possibly
her very life – had been spared.
We will not always understand
how God heals...and that’s okay. All we have to do is trust that He is
indeed our Healer. God will heal some instantly and completely - while
others, like the Apostle Paul, will be left with a “thorn in the flesh”
that must be tolerated. Some will be given health and restoration on
this earth...others will receive their healing in Heaven. God will use
physicians, counselors, family and friends, teachers, coaches, and
ministers of all kinds to deliver His healing. Relief and restoration
won’t always come in the form of a pill or surgery...a splint or a
crutch. But never doubt for one minute that God will heal us when we
trust Him. And if you want “maximum results” (as the pill bottle
sometimes describes), practice obedience, faithfulness, and servitude!
In
the human world, the choice to skip medication or treatment is a very
personal one...and you might even feel that God is telling you to choose
another option – or no treatment whatsoever. But we won’t know for sure
that we are hearing from God if we are not truly paying attention and
listening for His voice. Two entertainers were bantering back and forth
on a television show in a light-hearted debate, and one said to the
other, “Oh, just SHUSH IT!” Maybe it’s time for us to “shush it” with
God...and let Him do the talking for a while. The ultimate “Doctor” IS
in...are you listening to what He has to say?
©2014 Debbie Robus
*Feathers From My Nest...”A Mother’s Reflections” - ©2001 Beth Moore ~ Broadman and Holman - Nashville, Tennessee
No comments:
Post a Comment