But was Jon’s answer correct? Supposing the answer is more precisely ‘wait’… ? How would any of us be able to identify when the answer is flat out “no” or “wait”? Is that even knowable really? It becomes knowable when the answer finally arrives…
There is the matter of God’s timing… lotta scriptures point to this as a possibility for the ‘wait’ response. In waiting, is there also a struggle with trust or faith in God’s ability or willingness to response in our favor? Timing is important when you think about how that impacts the outcome of things.
Hi Bob
I thought I had responded to your post here …I guess it might have timed out because I had to help my Mom…well… I had thought about what you said about asking for wisdom verses healing …and yes I would agree with you it is easier to expect and trust wisdom to be given…Maybe because it is more in the human sphere …The Bible does say …He heals all our diseases and by His stripes we are healed…I think the broad meaning is maybe the new body we will have for eternity? But I have experienced healing in this beat up ole body here many times …enough to do what I need to do. I think it is good and right to ask and believe God for healing in our body mind and soul right here right now. Living with pain and disability makes everything slow and hard and it is extremely humbling and scary…I used to think I was invincible but now I know better. I was a home health nurse for many years and I’m still doing it now for my Mom in spite of being pretty wrecked myself. So it seems that the Lord has seen fit to heal me enough to keep going here with Mom. I am very thankful for that. I don’t know the answers about how faith works together with healing but it is there in scripture. I think we can ask God to give us more faith…I do all the time. I ask for EVERYTHING because I know I don’t deserve anything and can’t earn God’s grace or gifts I am not worthy never will be and I am fully aware of that …So as for me I am shameless in my requests to God … I am going to do my best and I have certainly gotten depressed at times when life was looking hopeless, feeling hopeless…but there is that little candle always burning in me …at times I have wished it would just go completely dark so I could give up and live in the "slough of despond " but I just can’t. I don’t think you can either because you have just known the Lord too long. And that is a good thing. He is with you right now and loves you the same as ever … this is NOT a punishment you are experiencing. Our bodies here remind me of the things that used to be made to last forever that have been replaced with new things on the market that have a planned obsolescence …In the morning
I feel like I’m getting in a car that has 300,000 miles on it …it is always something it seems since I hit my late 50’s…it is always breaking down…
I am praying that God will bless you and give you a healing in your body and give you some relief and make your life better…That you will be in the health that He wants for you to have.
I pray for your spinal cord and disks and any bad connections that God will do something to let you have less pain. I pray He gives you wisdom in the way to go medically and also if there are any natural types of things that might help your body heal itself too. I will be reminded to pray for you when I get my little aches and pains…I am sorry that you are going through so much it makes it all the more crazy in this current world. Take courage in the Lord and be kind to yourself and encourage yourself in knowing God has not abandoned you…He is right there with you.
Thank you for your prayers Kim…
He has given me a measure of relief also - for which I am very thankful - just not full healing. I’m still asking for this, keeping in mind the parable of the persistant widow, and I continue to ask God “what” He wants me to learn from this, instead of “why” He is allowing it (thanks Pastor JD) .
I know it is not a punishment, because God does not afflict His children without a reason- no good earthly parent would do that. So far I have not gotten any sense of the “what,” but I have also gone through a “dark night of the soul” a few years back, and when God brought me out of that my faith and trust in Him was stronger than ever - so I know His reasons for this are righteous and just.
Honestly, what bothers me the most about this is my inability to effectively share the gospel with the lost or disciple other Christians in person due to my speech problems. It’s one of those things where email just doesn’t suffice. But God knows my heart so I trust Him that there is a reason why I am “benched” in this.
Yes you are correct - thankfully, I am not prone to depression so I haven’t subjected my wonderful wife or family around me to that. I have a brother in Christ who is one of my chlidhood friends, and he has been in the "slough of despond " for few years; it breaks my heart that there’s nothing I can do to help him.
Thank you again for your prayers and kind words Kim… I will pray for you as well… and I anxiously await the day when Jesus returns to take us home…finally free from temptation and sin, and with new resurrection
bodies free from pain and sickness. Lord, haste that day!
Dear Bob,
That must be so hard and frustrating not being able to talk…
I think of Paul …I have wondered if .he had a partial healing from being struck blind by the Lord or if it was unrelated. If it was related then I think it would be easier to accept that it was Gods doing to be in the condition he was in…It may have been …but we just don’t know.
I have always had a call on my life for my family…I still do obviously. I have seen the Lord use my life to prove He exists over and over to my family members. My father prayed with me to accept the Lord before he died. My mom has come to the Lord since she became injured in 2016 …
My sister has recently given her life to Christ so now … all that’s left is my brother who is a hard nut to crack…that is .in my family of origin … I have seen how the Lord has used my very broken life to be a witness that there is a God. In just a million ways a million times the Lord has shown Himself by how He provides for my needs in unexpected ways. It has been a very hard life in many ways but I would not trade it for anything. God can use our weakness in unbelievable ways and even our failures. I am telling you this because I know that God can use our lives in any circumstance we find ourselves in even when we feel useless. As long as you are available
to be used God will use your life for His glory. There is only one you and your life touches your family members and friends …the one friend that is so lost right now who knows but that the Lord may show Him something of how real God is through your life and this suffering you are enduring right now. I think the Christians that refused to deny Christ and were killed for it left a mark on the world …as did Job who lost everything but stated " though He slay me yet will I trust Him"…So I want to encourage you in the Lord that God will not waste your time here …I am a big baby myself and have wondered why the Lord wouldn’t let me win the lottery and go around secretly giving money to people in need in the name of Jesus…that would be so much fun to be able to do that! Or just be able to do great things for Him…and maybe it’s my own fault and I missed the boat by default I don’t know…But I know He uses bad for good like a storm makes a bumper crop sometimes…I know He loves you .
