God Promises Healing for an Unexpected Reason
God promises healing for an unexpected reason. The Old and New Testaments are well-stocked with stories of His healing power. Because of them, we can quickly list three reasons God chooses to heal.
He will heal to display His power.
This can happen either to outsiders, as with the leprous foreign soldier Naaman who was healed in 2 Kings 5, or to His people, for the man born blind whose story is in John 9.
Some of us have life stories of healing because we’ve asked God for it for ourselves.
In the Old Testament, King Hezekiah was deathly ill, and the prophet Isaiah told the king to “get his affairs in order.” After the prophet left the room, Hezekiah reacted to that news and prayed. Out in the palace courtyard, Isaiah heard from God again. “Go tell Hezekiah I heard his prayers. In three days he will be well, and will live another fifteen years.”
A New Testament healing granted to someone who asked for himself happened along a roadside, when Bartimaeus called out to Jesus. “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Some people objected, but the blind man persisted. When called to stand in front of Jesus, Bartimaeus asked for what he wanted, and got it.
Others of us also have stories of healing in our lives. Healings we live and rejoice in because friends, relatives and strangers interceded, with God.
An early incident in Numbers 12 involved Moses, and his older sister, Miriam. She became dissatisfied with her status, and grumbled. God responded by giving her leprosy. Moses prayed “Oh God, please heal her!” Miriam was isolated from the camp for seven days, then allowed to return.
The New Testament contains many stories of people asking Jesus for different kinds of healing. I think the most vivid story is the one in Luke 5:18-25. It takes true dedication to lower a friend down through a roof.
But God promises healing for an unexpected reason.
He heals to maintain his holy reputation, and prove our detractors wrong.
Today’s promise God keeps is Jeremiah 30:17: “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord, “because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”
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Ruth DeMaat
Heidi Kortman
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