So the topic of healing has been coming up almost my whole Race. I’ve tried to explore it some; just want ya’ll to know this is a huge, sometimes confusing topic. Here’s part of my jab at it.
There a many times in the New Testament that Jesus heals the most desperate that could have crossed his path
Luke 18:35-43
“As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, praising God. When all the people saw it, they also praised God.”
Matthew 9:20-22
“Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” Jesus turned and saw her. “Take heart, daughter,” he said, “your faith has healed you.” And the woman was healed at that moment.”
Matthew 21:14
“The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.”
These are just a few. Some as short as a verse. Some of them give us the expectation that our own healing or a friend or family member’s healing should be the same length. Just one short sentence and we are healed. Just one touch and we’re healed. I believe Jesus can do whatever he wants, whenever; don’t get me wrong here. But sometimes we think we know when we need healing more than our Father knows.
But he does it in his timing and all for his glory.
Luke 9:1-3
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned,this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”
This month working at SCH, a place where Indian children stand no chance at much of a life outside of these nurturing homes, we’ve held babies born with no eyes, born with Cerebral Palsy, 2 year olds that can’t walk or talk yet from malnutrition at previous orphanages, heads so big they can’t hold them up alone, children with Butterfly Syndrome (a skin disorder that rips away skin at the slightest touch). Little children with AIDS or cleft palates, a little baby trying to gain weight to have surgery to have her organ placed back inside her stomach; she was born with them on the outside.
The 10 year old dude, Thomas, I get to work with can only lie on a bed all day making hardly any sounds due to possible CP. They’re unsure if he was actually born with it or if it was induced by his environment and malnutrition.
All of these kids and more live within a few houses within the SCH community. I would post pictures of these cuties but for their safety we can’t right now.
It breaks my heart though. Honestly why were they born into such misfortune?! It’s not fair these situations they were born into.
It makes me wanna cry something fierce for them, whenever I think about it.
Here’s the two things I’m learning from all of this.
Sometimes instant healing doesn’t happen, no matter how much you want it.
Yes there are verses like Matthew 21:14, just a simple sentence of life change and healing for some. I believe Jesus can give the children here born with no eyes their sight in an instant, Luke 18, he’s that good ya’ll. But sometimes the plan for their lives is way beyond anything we can see or fathom. I could guess their lives will touch many just with their triumphs over adversity but maybe God’s plan is even beyond that. For now I’m just praying peace over these kiddos and imagine how beautiful it will be when their bodies are restored and I get to play and laugh with them, especially Thomas, in Heaven.
2 Corinthians 5:1
“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
Sometimes to get healing you have to want it, stop making excuses.
I listened to a podcast recently referencing Roger Crawford, an American tennis player who was born without hands. Here’s the quote from him I really just love.
“The only difference between you and me is that you can see my handicap, but I can’t see yours. We all have them. When people ask me how I have been able to overcome my physical handicaps, I tell them I haven’t overcome anything. I’ve simply learned what I can’t do – such as play the piano or eat with chopsticks – but more importantly, I’ve learned what I can do. Then I do what I can do with all my heart and soul.”
Wow. That’s so true. What are some of my handicaps no one can see, the ones buried deep? Am I even trying to do what I can to overcome them?
That same podcast was referencing John 5 and “The healing at the pool.”
“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him,
“Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
Jesus is asking us if we want to get well!!! He wants us to want it to. Even if we aren’t restored fully how much are we willing to put like Roger does? Are we putting our whole heart and soul into whatever we can do?
These kids at SCH didn’t have a choice about their physical bodies or any of their circumstances when they were born. I have no idea why they were born into this life. It’s heart breaking but I do know God is at work. Who am I to have sympathy for Thomas when he gets looser and looser everyday, when he smiles more everyday, we he tries to stretch himself sometimes. How do I know Thomas doesn’t put everything he has into becoming well. How do I know he doesn’t have private conversations with our Father even though he can’t speak. These kids are so beautiful and they put their heart and souls into every new day they have.
Please pray that the children will see Jesus through the nurses, the staff, foster moms, volunteers, myself and my team. And prayer that these same people would see Jesus in each child through their joy and contagious laughter each and every day.
If you would like to support a SCH child please send me a message and I will get you connected.
