there seem to be man times throughout life that we assume that God is not willing to bring healing to either ourselves or someone else. when we pray for a sick friend, we say to God, “if it be your will that they get better” and this seems very odd to me. we need to ask ourselves, “does God really desire that we get sick and suffer?” If the answer is yes, then that line of thought makes sense. but if not, and I am in this camp, then why do we not entreat God to bring restoration to this person’s life. i do not think it is God’s Will that any should suffer, but rather it is something that He allows to happen. it’s like hurricanes and disease, they are both a part of our world, but not something that God is happy about. He can and does use both, because they are a part of what has befallen the world in it’s sinful condition. but if He could remove it all right now without acting against Himself i’m sure He would.

no parent wants to see their children suffer, but there are times in the process of growth and maturity that the children must ask the parents for help rather than the parent spoon feeding them all the time.

so, when we pray, we shouldn’t question whether God wants them to be whole. God’s desire is for wholeness and restoration in every aspect of our lives. so, then, we need to pray with boldness that God do a work of healing in the life of the one who is afflicted…not hemming and hawing over whether we want God to do something, or to bring healing to one who suffers.

No.

instead, we gather some friends, & bear our friend and their burden to God, just as the men did with their friend who was lame. we dig a hole through whatever roof or obstacle is in our way to get to Jesus, and we make our declaration known to Him in faith.

there are times in life where it may seem best to walk gently, and then there are others where we must live and act in faith that God will listen to us when our hearts are torn open and we seek Him for the sake of another.

there should not be fear in our hearts to do these things. it is not as though we are forcing God’s hand, or using Him like a genie. We are His children, and so the desires, the real, deep, God-honoring desires of our hearts are VERY important to Him, and when our hearts break, His heart breaks. When we see a friend, or brother or sister who is hurting, in distress or some other kind of pain, i refuse to look at them in their situation, and resign myself to say, “well God must want them to suffer like this. there’s nothing i can do about it.” then pray some meek prayer for strength or encouragement, kind-of, and then go on my way as though that were good enough.

my friends, we have the key to the Throne Room of the Creator of the Universe, and we are content to lay our burdens at the garden gate.

He has shown us that He wants us to draw close in our petitioning, in our pain, and especially in times where we share the pain and burden of another. God is not so unfeeling and harsh as to tell us to suck it up and just go home.

lay your burdens down, because He does indeed care for you. present your requests before God in faith, that He can and will do the work. We do not order Him around when we do this, we come begging as His children for His attention and work in a desperate matter. and we must believe that He will do the redemptive work.

this obviously isn’t about lottery tickets and big screen televisions. this is about meeting the basic needs of His children. and when it is within our power to act, we must definitely do so, and meet God half-way. the friends of the lame man didn’t just stand at his house holding his mat and waiting for Jesus to come find them. we cannot do so either.

“if You are willing…” we ask.

“I am willing.” He replies.

trust in the Lord to take care of His children. Do not doubt His hand or His love. my heart races as i write this, because i think we are timid far too often in our asking (again not for material desires, this is not a ‘name it and claim it’ scenario) and in the process we sell God short, and do a great disservice to Him, ourselves and those we witness to on a daily basis.

Do not doubt the heart of God when it comes to caring for His children and desiring wholeness for us all.