Jehova-raphe: The Lord who Heals
When I was in my late teens and early twenties, I used to question God's existence by pointing to all the "bad" situations in the world. "How could God allow... ?" "What good comes from... ?" Fill in your blank. It was extremely difficult for me to believe in a loving caring God who would permit any harm to come to his children. To me.
And it made me bitter. Much like the Israelites when they escaped Egypt.
The story in Exodus plays out--God wants Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave and go to "the promised land." Pharaoh is stubborn and refuses (he doesn´t want to lose his labor force), so God sent ten plagues (pretty nasty stuff too) to help him change his mind. When the Israelites left, God parted the Red Sea so they could cross on dry land. They watched God perform Miracle after miracle. They were singing and dancing and all out praising God for His deliverance...
Who is like you among the gods, O LORD—
glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor,
performing great wonders? (v.11)
With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed. In your might,
you guide them to your sacred home. (v.13)
For a day or so.
They couldn't find water and they were getting thirsty and discouraged. And when things seemed to be at their worst, they found an oasis! But there was a problem--it was too bitter and they couldn´t drink it! Then they started grumbling and complaining to Moses so he prayed again, asking for God´s help. And He came through, showing Moses how to use a particular wood that made the water drinkable. He tells His people
If you will listen carefully to the voice of the
LORD your God and do what is right in his
sight, obeying his commands and keeping all
his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any
of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians;
for I am the LORD who heals you. (v.26)
The obvious interpretation is that God will take away all the physical ailments of His people, but the very first entry in Webster´s Dictionary (online version) for heal is "to make sound or whole". Without God, we are not complete. He doesn´t keep pain away--physical or emotional--because we live in a broken world and humans have free will. We can make choices which will hurt others to varying degrees and God does not intervene because He loves us and He wants us to love Him. But not through coercion.
That only makes sense right? I mean in "real life" we want people to choose to love us. Love us for who we are--good bad and ugly. Well, since God created us in His image, you can start to understand why He doesn't step in right now and stop all the bad things from happening. (Because, one day He will, you know. But I'll keep that for a different day.) So instead, He promises healing and restoration for when the bad things happen. The challenge is for you to accept it.
For those of you with physical illnesses...God is still a God who restores physical health. However, I believe that no matter what, He wants your life to glorify Him regardless of whether He takes away the infirmity. A friend of ours here shared with us that he was born with a pretty severe case of asthma. He never went anywhere without an inhaler and couldn't play sports. He prayed for years for God to heal him and felt like his prayers were not answered. When he reached his teens, he had pretty much given up and started to believe God wasn't listening or didn't care.
One night he debated about going to a youth service at his church. "Why bother?" was his question. He did end up going and that night the pastor's wife told him it was "his night". He left that service and has not had to have an inhaler since.
Don't ever give up on God because He is working to bring about His purpose for all mankind.
Blessings.
And it made me bitter. Much like the Israelites when they escaped Egypt.
The story in Exodus plays out--God wants Pharaoh to allow the Israelites to leave and go to "the promised land." Pharaoh is stubborn and refuses (he doesn´t want to lose his labor force), so God sent ten plagues (pretty nasty stuff too) to help him change his mind. When the Israelites left, God parted the Red Sea so they could cross on dry land. They watched God perform Miracle after miracle. They were singing and dancing and all out praising God for His deliverance...
Who is like you among the gods, O LORD—
glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor,
performing great wonders? (v.11)
With your unfailing love you lead
the people you have redeemed. In your might,
you guide them to your sacred home. (v.13)
For a day or so.
They couldn't find water and they were getting thirsty and discouraged. And when things seemed to be at their worst, they found an oasis! But there was a problem--it was too bitter and they couldn´t drink it! Then they started grumbling and complaining to Moses so he prayed again, asking for God´s help. And He came through, showing Moses how to use a particular wood that made the water drinkable. He tells His people
If you will listen carefully to the voice of the
LORD your God and do what is right in his
sight, obeying his commands and keeping all
his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any
of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians;
for I am the LORD who heals you. (v.26)
The obvious interpretation is that God will take away all the physical ailments of His people, but the very first entry in Webster´s Dictionary (online version) for heal is "to make sound or whole". Without God, we are not complete. He doesn´t keep pain away--physical or emotional--because we live in a broken world and humans have free will. We can make choices which will hurt others to varying degrees and God does not intervene because He loves us and He wants us to love Him. But not through coercion.
That only makes sense right? I mean in "real life" we want people to choose to love us. Love us for who we are--good bad and ugly. Well, since God created us in His image, you can start to understand why He doesn't step in right now and stop all the bad things from happening. (Because, one day He will, you know. But I'll keep that for a different day.) So instead, He promises healing and restoration for when the bad things happen. The challenge is for you to accept it.
For those of you with physical illnesses...God is still a God who restores physical health. However, I believe that no matter what, He wants your life to glorify Him regardless of whether He takes away the infirmity. A friend of ours here shared with us that he was born with a pretty severe case of asthma. He never went anywhere without an inhaler and couldn't play sports. He prayed for years for God to heal him and felt like his prayers were not answered. When he reached his teens, he had pretty much given up and started to believe God wasn't listening or didn't care.
One night he debated about going to a youth service at his church. "Why bother?" was his question. He did end up going and that night the pastor's wife told him it was "his night". He left that service and has not had to have an inhaler since.
Don't ever give up on God because He is working to bring about His purpose for all mankind.
Blessings.
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