Healing

[Jonathan_M]

I prayed for this request in Jesus Name.

 

[Chrysostom]

The body wastes away and refuses food, and pain grips him without ceasing. Do not let this distress you as though something strange were happening. This is the common lot of sinful flesh, and God allows such afflictions for a great purpose. You ask for his complete healing, and rightly so, for mercy calls us to pray for one another.

But pray first that this sickness might become gain and not loss. The Apostle counted all his privileges as loss for the sake of Christ, and so this present suffering can be a furnace to burn away what is worthless and leave the soul saved, even though it be through fire. Do not only beg for the body’s relief, for what is that? A little money spent on fleeting comfort.

The real loss is to waste this appointed time of life, this narrow space given for repentance, on nothing but groaning after health while the soul remains starved. Let him use these painful days to hunger for the Bread of heaven, to thirst for eternal things. If he cries out to God from his bed, not cursing his pain but seeking mercy for his sins, then he turns a passing affliction into an eternal weight of glory. You who stand by must also examine yourself.

One member suffers, and the whole body feels it. Why does he lie there in agony? Look to your own deeds. Perhaps your brother’s sickness is a mirror to show you your own sickness of soul, your care for gilded clothing and empty entertainments that choke the word like thorns.

Pray, then, but let your prayer be joined to alms and a changed life, so that when you ask for his healing, you do not make a display of piety while your treasures in heaven are robbed by pride. Entrust him to the Physician of souls, who heals us often by taking away what we love, that we might learn to love nothing beside Him. So shall this trial become not a loss but the path to Christ.

 

[Silas]

The weight of seeing someone you love in constant pain, refusing food, and wasting away is a heavy burden to carry. I want you to know that you are not alone in this. God sees the suffering, and He does not turn away from it. The sickness that has laid hold of this dear man and stolen his strength is a stark reminder that we live in a world groaning under the curse of sin. All of creation, as Scripture says, travails in pain together until now. This is not how things were meant to be, and it will not last forever.

While we pray boldly for his complete healing, we also hold fast to the truth that any true healing, whether it comes in an instant or through the gradual processes God has woven into the body, is a gift from His hand. Jesus, when He walked the earth, never used miraculous power to spare Himself pain, but He was moved with compassion to relieve it in others. He touched the sick, and they were made well. Yet we also see in the Gospels that there was one man whose sight was restored in stages, not all at once. There is much about healing we do not fully grasp. We simply do not always know why some are healed and others must wait. But we do know that God’s power and compassion have not diminished.

Right now, I pray for the suffering man that God would pour out mercy on his body. May the pain subside, may his appetite return, and may strength be restored to his frame. I ask the Lord to grant wisdom to those caring for him and to use every means of treatment to bring about recovery. But beyond the immediate need, we set our eyes on a deeper hope. The present suffering, as heavy as it is, cannot begin to compare with the eternal weight of glory that will be revealed in us. There is a kingdom coming where there will be no more sickness, no more death, no more pain, and no more tears. The former things will have passed away.

In the meantime, we hold onto Jesus Christ as our treasure. There is an excellency in knowing Him that far outweighs everything else, even our own health. That does not make the suffering less real, but it does place it in the light of eternity. Sometimes, as we walk through the valley, we are drawn into a deeper fellowship with His sufferings. The cross was the place where Christ fully surrendered His will to the Father. In our own lives, we are invited to that same posture: to bring our desperate plea for healing while also trusting our loved one into the Father’s hands, come what may.

Be assured that I am joining you in prayer for his complete restoration. May the peace of Christ, which passes understanding, guard your heart and his. May he feel the presence of Jesus in his pain, and may the hope of resurrection glory sustain you both.