Contributor:
Chad Roberts
Psalm 103:2-3
As many of you know, I am in a fight to save my eye sight. I began aggressively losing vision in my left eye. I had a surgery to correct the issue, but as of now, the surgeon believes he was unsuccessful. My doctor’s orders are to lay in bed for 7 days, 90% of the day either on my left or right side. I cannot even lay on my back because there is a gas bubble behind my eye.
Needless to say, I have had a great deal of time to think and pray concerning my condition. Perhaps you are reading this and you need the Lord to intervene and heal you, or perhaps you have a loved one who is needing the Lord to touch them.
My thoughts this week have been on healing and how the Lord promises healing in the Bible. I have had to ask myself some very hard questions about what I believe concerning divine healing. I have promised the Lord that while I wait for Him to act (my doctor says it will be 4 solid weeks before I know if I will see again out of my left eye), I will do what I know to do. These are the Biblical steps that I know to take on the path to healing. I hope you find them as challenging and helpful as I have.
#1. I am going to Remove All Doubt & Unbelief
Mark records a fascinating account in chapter 6 of his gospel. He says that Jesus took His disciples to His hometown and taught in the Synagogue and healed a few sick people. Why did Jesus heal but a few? Mark tells us in verse 6 that it was because of their unbelief that Jesus could not perform great miracles.
Can you believe that their unbelief hindered the work of Jesus? Now does this diminish the sovereign power of Christ? Absolutely not! But it does give us a glimpse into the reality that God will not work amidst unbelief, and that doubt and unbelief is a serious matter to the Lord.
James 1:6-7 commands us, “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord.” Christ taught us that when speaking to difficulties in our lives that we must not doubt God’s ability. Mark 11:23 Christ said, “Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.” Can you see the Biblical commands for removing doubt?
So what does Mark’s gospel account teach us about our own faith? I believe it clearly shows that unbelief hinders God from working in our lives. Notice that Mark does not say that sin was too strong, or even that demonic activity was too strong. No! It was the issue of doubt and unbelief. You and I should examine our own hearts and remove any unbelief.
#2. I am going to Receive the Word of God
James 1:21 is an interesting command. James instructs us to put away all unrighteousness from our lives and to “receive” the Word of God. The word receive literally means to put out a welcome mat. Isn’t that a wonderful word picture of how we are to treat the Word of God in our lives? We are not to read the Bible by picking and choosing what we like, or what we agree with or even what makes us feel good. Instead we are to receive the full counsel of God’s Word and the word picture is to place a welcome mat on the door of your heart.
Why is the issue of receiving God’s Word central to healing? Because it is God’s Word alone that brings faith into our lives. Romans 12:3 teaches that we are each assigned a “measure of faith.” But can that faith increase? Absolutely. How? According to Romans 10:17, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”
Notice how it is worded, “faith comes…” I want more faith to come into my heart. I want my faith to increase. I want to be able to trust God more than ever before. In order for this to happen, I must increase my intake of God’s Word. Scripture alone builds faith.
Is God’s Word really welcome in my life? Will I allow God’s Word to dispel fear, doubt, rebellion, pride and any other sin that would hinder God’s ability to work?
#3. I am going to Resist the Devil
There is a promise attached to the commands of James 4:7. He writes, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” So what does it mean to resist the devil? I believe it means that as I submit to God (His Word is welcome in my life and my faith is increasing as a result of His Word) then I am going to resist the works of Satan against me.
The Bible teaches me how to resist him in Ephesians 6 by taking up the whole armor of God. So as I fight with the sword of the Spirit and the shield of faith, what I am doing is not settling for sickness to remain in my body. Now, Satan may have found a foothold to wreak havoc or bring negative effects, but that does not mean that I have to settle for them.
I may not deny that sickness is in my body. However, because of God’s Word, I am denying that sickness has the right or authority to remain in my body. So as he attacks, I will resist. If he attacks more then I will resist more. The promise stands…if we resist him, he will flee from us!
You must be logged in to post a comment.