"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NIV) We prayed and prayed some more when my brilliant and kind younger brother Friederich became mentally ill and suicidal, and then we had to bury him. Two years later my Mama stayed with us for the birth of our daughter Emily. One evening I followed her out on the porch after she said she wasn’t feeling well, she was having some kind of heart episode but refused to go to the hospital. I prayed for her, she went back home, three months later we buried her. My older brother Andreas had a massive heart attack, we prayed for him, he recovered amazingly and returned to work. Two years later he had massive stroke, we prayed for him and he has made huge strides in his recovery, but he is still disabled. This past June, Junior, our little grandson suffered cardiac arrest and massive brain damage, we prayed and prayed some more, somehow he still alive, but still so broken he seems unaware. Our daughter Emily’s spine is deformed by scoliosis and she suffers from debilitating migraines, all of our praying has not straightened her back or cured her headaches. Our son Hansi, our niece Ashley, and our nephew Luke all have type 1 diabetes, and although we praise God for insulin that allows them to live He has not restored the pancreases. And I could go on, as I am sure you could too about members of your own family and maybe even yourself.You can’t read very far into the New Testament without coming to the conclusion that God both has the power to heal and has healed people, and not just from “easy” stuff but from things like blindness, paralysis, even from death itself. Instantly he made lame men walk, freed lepers from disease, made chronic bleeding stop, fevers disappear, and so much more. Was all that just authenticate that Jesus was really the Son of God? Does God still heal today, and who, and when, and under what conditions? Is it just a crapshoot, some get lucky and some don’t? Are the critics right that all this randomness is just another reason to discount the existence of God? And why does God not unleash more of that power, where it is really needed?By now you might have guessed that I have not figured this all out, nobody really has. Here is what I do know:
- God’s ways are unfathomable, inscrutable, and good.
- Suffering puzzles us, and erasing God out of the picture is of no help, but reduces everything, and especially suffering, to mere randomness and meaninglessness.
- God does not abandon us in our suffering, even when we feel like he is not responding to our pleas as we think He should.
- God knows how to redeem suffering for his purposes and glory.
- God invites us to call on Him in our suffering and pain, and we can be confident that He hears and responds to our needs out of His perfect wisdom, His complete knowledge, His immeasurable power, His full justice, His sovereign will, His flawless goodness, and His bottomless love.
- God knows how and when to heal us, how and when to sustain us, and how and when to keep us in this life or call us home to Himself.
- We can trust Him regardless of what life, others, evil, and even hell itself throws at us and rest in the assurance of that trust. The faith we place in Him, is not misplaced, not empty, or filled with disappointment. Instead it is sure, real, full of hope, overflowing with mercy, grace, and life.
What will I do next the next time sickness, or tragedy, or suffering and pain comes my way, or strikes someone in my family, my church, my neighborhood, or my community? I will go straight to God, my Heavenly Father, who has loved me and claimed me in Christ. I will hold on tight to his good Hand, I will ask Him for healing, for help, for strength, for faith, for peace, for the ability to cope, for His all-sufficient grace to keep me in my weakness, and to be able to accept His will over mine. And I hope I will meet you there.To God be all glory, love you, Pastor Hans