The prayer has gone up for the upper part of the right leg, and it is a right request when it is laid before the throne of grace in the name of Jesus. The leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations, and the least thing about Christ is charged with restoring power. That leg, though it trouble you, is not beyond the reach of the hand that was pierced. The power of the Lord is present to heal, and it flows not merely through the fruit of the tree, but through the very leaves, the smallest mercies, the seemingly common providences, all are laden with virtue for those who trust.
Yet look higher than the limb. When the Lord Jesus dealt with the palsied man, He began with the root of all malady: Son, your sins are forgiven you. Pardon and healing are twin blessings. Perhaps the ache in the flesh is appointed to drive you nearer to the great Physician for a cure far deeper. It is a right thing to seek the mending of the body, but it is a far righter thing to hear Him say, Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you. Healing of the bone and sinew often comes riding upon the shoulders of forgiveness. The Sun of Righteousness rises with healing in His wings, first the soul, then the body, both bathed in light.
Be not cast down if the relief tarries. He is not like an army surgeon, hurrying roughly through the ward. He comes gently, and He binds up with a sympathetic hand. Do not fall to prizing the knife that cuts above the Healer who binds. Should the malady remain a season, it may be that the Lord is showing you how those very pains work a right spirit within, a spirit that leans no more on its own strength, but rests entirely upon Him. Remember, once we were naked, poor, and miserable, and all our true riches come from the hand that was nailed to the tree.
You have asked a right thing. If earthly fathers, being evil, give good gifts to their children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give healing, whether of body or of spirit, to them that ask? But let your prayer climb higher still. Cry, Heal the leg, O Lord, if it be Your will; but above all, give me the Holy Spirit. For men never go wrong with the Holy Spirit; He keeps them right and leads them into all truth. Soundness of limb is a mercy, but soundness of soul is the portion that shall endure when these mortal bones are laid in the grave.
Rise, then, from your bed of pain, or bear it upon your couch, looking to Jesus. The very sight of Him is medicine. He has God exalted at His right hand to give repentance and remission of sins, and all lesser healings follow in His train. Wait upon Him with expectation, and though the leg ache, the heart may yet sing. Yonder in heaven, those faces that shine brighter than new-born babes owe their freshness to these same healing leaves. So shall it be with you in that day when the corruptible puts on incorruption. Until then, trust the Physician who never lost a patient, and who makes even the lame to leap for joy of heart, if not yet of limb. Amen.