Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps”. Psalm 135:6

Jehovah Rapha is our glorious healer.  He heals all things in eternity, but some He heals ahead of time. Beautiful stories are recorded for us in the Old Testament.  Naaman was healed when he dipped seven times in the Jordan river.  A young boy was raised from the dead when Elisha laid over his lifeless body.  The children of Israel were healed when they looked to the serpent on the pole.  King Hezekiah was healed from a terminal illness and given an additional fifteen years to live.  But just as many times, the righteous prayed for healing but weren’t granted it in their lifetime.  Like us, they held on to their glorious hope and found the fulfillment of God’s promise when they entered Abraham’s bosom.

When Jesus came, He spent much of His ministry healing people.  Blind people were given sight. Tumors disappeared.  The dead were raised.  Fevers left.  The lame, relegated to begging for a living, stood on their feet to begin a new life.  While His healing was widespread, He didn’t heal everyone either.  For those who were left lame, or with a thorn in the flesh like the Apostle Paul, hope was deferred, and God’s grace carried them to the end.

God is all powerful and can easily facilitate healing.  But healing is the exception.  Let’s face it.  We’re disappointed and continue to groan under the fall.  

When I was 29 years old, my mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  I begged God for her healing.  He didn’t grant it on this side of heaven.  In 2003, my father died of lung cancer. Again, I pleaded with God for healing and felt sure that He would extend my father’s life.  He didn’t.  I stood firm, waiting for this miracle, all the way to his last breath.  It didn’t happen.  

You have your stories too.  Perhaps you are in prayer, even today, for the healing of someone close to you.

God will fulfill every single promise He has made.  What do we do with Psalm 103:3?  “I will heal all of your diseases.”  We don’t run from it or misinterpret it.  We live in it and expect its fulfillment ~ but in context with the whole counsel of God’s Word.  More on that tomorrow. 

I’ve seen miracles.  And I’ve been disappointed, Lord.  Help me when I stumble over You.  Amen