Healing; Part 2

Mountain View
By Paula Friedrichsen

Healing; Part 2

In last week’s column I told about the dramatic story of my healing from Lyme disease. Since that healing over 10 years ago I’ve had the opportunity to pray with people from all over the U.S. who have Lyme disease—or other illnesses.

One theme that seems to crop up often in these conversations is the erroneous belief that the sick person may not be “good enough” to get healed. I’m often asked, “Paula, what if I’m not holy enough to get healed by God” or “What if I’m not worthy enough of God’s healing power?”

And this is my answer: God doesn’t heal you because you’re worthy. He heals you because He’s worthy. He doesn’t restore your health because you’re holy—but because He’s holy. He doesn’t heal people because they’re good enough, but because He’s good enough! He simply loves His children and offers them abundant life.

That’s not to say that we may not have to position ourselves to better receive His healing—we might just have to. Positioning ourselves can mean a number of different things:
– Drawing near to God in prayer, and in authentic, intimate worship
– Going through a season of deep repentance and a change of heart when it comes to sinful behavior
– Forgiving others for past hurts
– Forgiving ourselves for personal failings, and ridding ourselves (with the help of the Holy Spirit) of self-bitterness
– Dealing with the fear, doubt, and unbelief in our life

All of these actions help to better position us to receive from God.

Imagine a road called “healing.” On that road God has healing and restoration for you. But if that road is cluttered with obstacles and hindrances—like unrepentant sin, self-hatred, and trauma from past hurts—you may be unable to walk that path to wholeness. The Lord in His goodness wants to help you remove the obstacles from that road. It’s not that He needs you or I to be “good enough” so that He can heal us. We’ve already established that God heals people because He is good and loves His children. But He wants to help us deal with the obstacles in our lives so we can see His goodness more clearly, and receive all that He has for us.

With all my heart I believe God enjoys healing His children, and that He receives great glory when He is allowed to move supernaturally in our lives. For instance, when the Lord promises a woman a child, and then she finally conceives and gives birth to that long awaited baby, God is glorified. When God meets a financial need in your life, He is glorified. When God opens long-anticipated doors for ministry for you, He receives glory. When He helps you get that job you wanted, shouts of glory are given to God. And….when you are healed from your illness, God is glorified! He receives great glory when He is allowed to meet your needs. God isn’t holding out on you… He loves you, and sent His Son to die so that you might have an abundant life. Yes, there will be trials in this life… ups and downs and all arounds. But there is also victory in this life. There is healing, right here in the land of the living.

Psalm 103: 1-5
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

For further study on this topic I highly recommend a book called, “Biblical Foundations of Freedom: Destroying Satan's Lies with God's Truth”. It’s available at Choices Bookstore in Bishop (873-6808), or online at www.akwellspring.com

Paula Friedrichsen is a member of Church on the Mountain, a vibrant community of believers in Crowley Lake. We meet at 9:30 Sunday mornings. Call for more information: 935-4272 or www.ChurchOnTheMountain.org