The greatest obstacle to receiving a “gift of healing” is often the sick themselves, not a disease from which they suffer. An all-powerful Creator God has no difficulty raising the dead, healing a cripple, restoring sight to the blind, or setting captives free from demonic oppression. John Wesley once said, “Get on fire for God and then let people come and watch you burn!” It is because pursuit of God is not the greatest priority of many that the Church finds itself feeble when it comes to healing manifestations of the Holy Spirit not being commonplace. Instead of seeking the face of God, churches in America are filled with those who only seek the hand of God.
Many chase after signs and wonders instead of seeking intimacy with Jesus Christ. But Scripture says signs like healing follow those who believe rather than coming to believe by following signs and wonders. We’re to seek first the kingdom of God and righteousness, for it’s in seeking righteousness that we find ourselves seeking the best God has for us. While I once practiced medicine, I greatly prefer seeking spiritual answers to healing by God. This doesn’t mean I’m against medicine. But I deplore how the Church has failed to deal with the spiritual roots of disease by calling people to repent from sins which are responsible for disease in the first place.
Consider this example during my service as a volunteer physician at a Free Clinic. Rosa, a middle age lady, had been treated for hypertension when she presented with a very high blood pressure and two-day history of stroke. Her right arm hung limply at her side and she limped badly due to weakness in her right leg. Asked whether she had taken her BP medication, she answered affirmatively in a slurred voice. When I inquired whether she had been recently upset about anything, she spoke of extreme distress over a wayward son who was incarcerated at the County Jail. This opened the door for me to ask if she had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“Oh, yes!” she replied with enthusiasm.”He’s my Lord and Savior!” I then asked why she was subjecting herself to such anxiety instead of praying and trusting the Lord to look after the rehabilitation of her son. I suggested she repent and ask forgiveness from her heavenly Father for her fear instead of having faith. After she’d done so, I prayed for the healing of her affliction in the name of Jesus. Immediately she said in a voice that was no longer slurred, “I’m fine now!” Her blood pressure had returned to normal, she instantly regained the full use of her right arm and shortly thereafter walked out of the Free Clinic without the slightest remaining trace of a limp.
In dealing with sin as a condition for healing, we do not infer someone must be sinless. The latter is never true apart from Jesus. But there’s a huge difference between being tempted, falling to sin, and repenting as opposed to living in habitual sin. “What shall we do then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means?” (Ro 6:1,2). To willfully continue in sin without repenting is to separate from relationship with Christ according to the Scriptures (see Gal 5:19-21; 1 Jn 2:15 and 1 Jn 3:6,10). Habitual sin not only risks removing oneself from God’s presence. Another consequence is often that of failing to live in good health (see Deuteronomy 28).
At times, there is no apparent reason why healing doesn’t take place. But it is always prudent to be as certain as possible that our lives are lined up with the will of God as revealed in Scripture. Fear of man or fear of circumstances is contrary to trusting God (i.e., having faith) and must recognized as sin. Such fear kept a generation of Israelites from entering the promised land. Their bodies fell to disease in the desert over the next forty years because of unbelief is spite of redemption from Egypt and having experienced God’s grace. The same can be said of bitterness and unforgiveness due to a past offense or becoming bewitched by love for the ways of the world.
Another circumstance involves the warning of the apostle Paul to examine ourselves before we partake of the Lord’s Supper. This is a warning often not taken with utmost seriousness. “Anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. This is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep [i.e., have died]” (see 1 Cor 11:28-30). There is such lack of emphasis today on having a reverential fear of the Lord. As a result, this warning by the apostle is given little attention. At times people fail to demonstrate any significant desire whatsoever to carry out a genuine spiritual inventory.
We have a Creator who is aware of everything that takes place in thought, word and deed. Many a passage in both Old and New Testaments confirm that all of us are under His continual watchful care. It is deception to believe that we can live with one foot in Egypt and the other in the promised land as frequently thought. “Do not be deceived. God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will receive eternal life” (Galatians 6:7,8). This warning is not to heathens but to believers in Jesus, lest you be deceived by the evil one.
One may have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus but it doesn’t necessarily mean that he or she is living in a manner pleasing to God. Thoughts come into our consciousness from both the kingdom of God and kingdom of Satan. Some deny this possibility but are ignorant of Satan’s schemes and do not understand why we’re commanded to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor 10:5). In fact, evil thoughts can even penetrate our mind when asleep. You might claim, “Such isn’t possible if a person lives righteously in the eyes of God!” Then you must explain what happened to Job who is described by God as “blameless and upright” (see Job 1:8).
“A word was secretly brought to me, my ears caught a whisper of it. Amid disquieting dreams in the night, when deep sleep falls on men, fear and trembling seized me and made all my bones shake. A spirit glided past my face, and the hair on my body stood on end” (Job 4:12-15). An evil spirit brought fear and anxiety, emotions contrary to having a knowledge of God that calls us to live by faith (and emotions known to produce physical illness). Both Old and New Testaments stress that the righteous shall live by faith. But Satan prowls around looking for people to devour (1 Pe 5:8), stealing their peace and joy and killing faith in Christ. His temptations as “prince of this world” (Jn 12:31) constantly confront us and challenge our determination to live by faith.
