We are healed

Healing is something I have prayed for myself and for other people throughout my life. I believe that God heals. He ALWAYS heals. Most people hesitate to say that God heals in all situations, but I believe it to be true (at least for believers). Then why do people die or suffer their entire lives with disease? Because God does not always heal in the way that WE think is the right way. God always heals, just not always in the ways we expect. We think of healing as a miraculous sign or an instant cure for pain and suffering. But sometimes God's healing looks different than ours.

For a long time I was sick. Not with a deadly disease or something that would take my life directly, but sick none the less. There were days where I would not even get out of  bed because of anxiety or depression. When that lifted, then it moved to physical stomach sickness. I remember being in the shower and begging God to please make it better. Take it away. And He healed me, but not immediately and not in the way I thought He would. I wanted instant gratification, instant healing. Instead, God took me through a process. A process of medication, tests, doctors and frustration. Through this time, He was healing me spiritually. He was breaking me so that He would become greater and I would become less. After much frustration and many years, I am healed. Yes, sometimes I feel slightly anxious, other days down in the dumps and others my stomach does not feel so great, but ultimately, God healed me.

A dear friend of ours, Pat, passed away from cancer. On a visit she made to Cleveland to get treatment we went to lunch and she shared something with me that I will never forget. I can still picture where we were sitting outside at the Cheesecake Factory. As she ate her rather bland soup (because of her nausea) she said, "I know God will heal me. Maybe not in the way that I want or that I find to be the best answer for my family,  but I do know He is not finished with me yet. He will heal me whether it is on this earth or in heaven." God used Pat at that time to show me that He had already healed me many many years ago. 

"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24