Luke 13 tells the miraculous story of a hunchbacked woman who encountered Jesus and finally stood tall after eighteen crippling years.
On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Luke 13:10-13 NIV
This woman’s healing is the type of story that every person who has ever experienced illness or injury clings to for hope: “Jesus heals. He’s done it before; He can do it again. Perhaps, even for me.”
But what happens when we begin to lose that hope for healing? What happens when the years pile up and the healing never comes? When is it appropriate to throw in the towel and accept defeat? Healing has not yet come, and so it seems, never will.
In the book, Kingdom Woman, Tony Evans highlights this story of the crippled woman as a chance to remind us never to give up hope. Jesus heals. He always heals. But, as Tony reminds us, He chooses to work His healing in four very different ways.
1. He can supernaturally heal you
Sometimes Jesus chooses to heal us in an instant, just like He did with this woman in Luke 13. I’ve seen this happen time and time again, and it always amazes me to witness the Lord’s power. A mother is encouraged to end a doomed pregnancy only to give birth to a perfectly healthy baby girl. (My aunt, Rachel!) A woman is unable to become pregnant no matter what medical intervention she and her husband try, and then becomes pregnant years later without any outside assistance at all. (My friend, Misty!)
These are the stories we cling to. We cannot deny that sometimes God still chooses to reach down from heaven and supernaturally fix whatever is wrong. When the doctors cannot explain what happened, give God the glory He deserves.
2. He can use human means to remedy your condition
We live in an age where surgeries and medicine can change a death sentence into an inconvenience. I recently had to administer an Epi-pen on my sweet mother-in-law. I watched with my own eyes as her body, which had grown red and splotchy in a severe allergic reaction, slowly grew smooth and pink again.
The Lord, in His wisdom, has provided drugs and procedures and some of the brightest minds in medicine to bring healing to entire generations. Children can now see with glasses and contacts. Diseases have almost disappeared because of vaccines. Wounded athletes can run again thanks to prosthetics, and life can be extended because of organ transplants.
We marvel at science and medicine, but don’t believe for one second that the Lord is not behind it all.
3. He can give you strength to handle your condition until he corrects it
If you have ever been in your ninth month of pregnancy, you have probably prayed for this type of strength. “Lord, I cannot do this another day! Put me out of my overweight misery and get this baby out of me!” You feel weak. You feel defeated. But somehow, through hormones and miracles, God not only gives you the strength you need to endure nine months of aches and pains, He also rewards you with the blessing of a brand new child.
For some ailments, time is the best medicine. We go in hoping for a quick fix, but all we get is a prescription for rest. When all you can do is wait, ask God for the strength you need to endure.
4. He can enable you to persevere through the pain on earth until your full healing is manifested in heaven
When I was young, a girl in my youth group had leukemia. I prayed, along with everyone else, that the Lord would choose to heal her sick body. It wasn’t until after she died that I realized how much God had done for her while she was still alive. He gave this girl extreme perseverance, and she was a joy to everyone around her, even when she was at her weakest. He never removed her pain while she was on earth, but He did answer her prayer for healing when He called her to heaven.
The truth is that none of us are truly healed until we get to heaven anyway. Eternal healing is not reserved for a select few – it is a guarantee for everyone who believes in Him.
When have you seen the Lord work healing in your life? How are you praying for healing today?
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Good morning Emily.
Well I’m really playing catchup here but this is a really important post/subject you’ve touched on.
From my earliest days that I can remember, (though I didn’t know it at the time), God was working ALL around me & my very small family. He protected me from my dad, my mom & He gave me a Christian little Grannie who knew the power of prayer.
I’ve personally experienced healing at the very moment of prayer, (my daughter had a knot on her neck), & there were many, many other times, “recently”. But I’ve also experienced my prayers, seemingly, not being answered only to find out, years later, there were reasons He didn’t answer them.
Complete trust & faith in God has been hard to come by but as I persevered, & had nothing else to cling to, I began to grow & know our Father, God. And like the very air we breath, that sustains our life yet we can’t see it, (visibly), is the same way of our God. Sometimes He’s blustering & fierce, (we can hear Him well), & other times He’s gentle & whispering, (& it’s very hard to hear Him), but in faith we strive to follow in earnest prayer. And, as you said, His healing comes in & on His time BUT, it “”always”” comes.