The echo of the human heart, searched by the physician's probe, must not drown out the sweeter echo of the soul, searched by the Great Physician's love. The Psalmist cried, "Lo, we heard of it at Ephratah: we found it in the fields of the woods." So we have heard of healing at the throne, but we find it only at the cross where Jesus took our sicknesses. There is no meeting place with God, there is no place for prevailing prayer, but where you meet God in the Person of Jesus Christ the one great Sin-Offering. Let your heart, therefore, not rest in the technician's findings, but say with David, "I will not give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob." The swelling of the limbs is but a symptom; the swelling of unbelief would be the graver malady. Trust Christ with his case and ask no questions. How insane and insulting to be willing to trust our feelings and not trust the Savior! These ten lepers felt no change when Jesus bade them go, yet as they went they were made whole. Go, then, as you wait, trusting Him for the very thing you seek. Waste no time in applying to the Physician of souls, but hasten to Him with words like these, "Jesus! Master! Hear my cry! Save me, heal me with a word."
There grows no healing herb but the one plant of renown. There is one sacred Fountain, to wash therein is health; there is but one, it was opened on Calvary. The balm is not in Gilead; the Physician is not in the ranks of men; the balm is at the Cross, the Physician is at the right hand of God. If the sinner does but come to Jesus, he shall find no stint in Jesus' healing power. The utmost length of human sickness can be reached by this great Healer. Have confidence, O poor doubting heart. He used no other remedy in healing our sin-sickness but that of taking our sicknesses and infirmities upon Himself. Blessed be the Son of God that the medicine, bitter as it is, is not for us to drink, but was all drained by Himself. And remember the order of the Master's mercy: first forgiveness, then healing. "Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you." Pardon and healing are one. He was in no hurry to be raised from his palsied state; he lay quite still at Jesus' feet, for his soul was already made whole. So may it be with your husband: first, the sweet assurance that in Christ Jesus he stands before God as if he had never sinned, and then, as the Lord wills, the rising of the body.
Do not look for a sign before you believe. Your immediate business is to trust Jesus. A patient does not say to the physician, "I will trust you when I have reached a certain stage," for the doctor would reply, "If you have reached that state, you won't need me." Healing must come before serving; life must come before labor. But there is no strength in an ungodly man with which to serve God. Out of a foul spring no clean waters can come. But here is the healing point: Jesus touched her, took her by the hand, and lifted her up. There was a contact established. Oh, that glorious doctrine of the Incarnation! There is healing in it. By the Holy Spirit, Christ touches us still, and no cherub's flaming sword stands there to keep us back. His hands hold no thunders, his eyes no anger, on his lips no threatening. See how he bows himself over the mangled heart. He comes gently and sympathizingly, not like an army surgeon hurrying to amputate, but to bind up.
Take heed, then, how you hear this word. It is no light thing to have heard amiss, yet it may be a blessed thing to hear aright, for no one can tell the weight of mercy that may come from the hearing. You thank God for every day on this earth; that is well. But rest assured, Believer, that since God has forgiven your sins, He has dried up the well of bitterness and you shall drink no more of it. Or, if it seems to come to your lips, it shall be so changed that it shall be a healing draught. The Sun of Righteousness has risen with healing in His wings. And what of tomorrow? What of the result? I know of no supposable dangers, no imaginable troubles, no conceivable difficulties through which, and out of which, and beyond which this text will not carry us, if by faith we grasp it: "He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you." That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake. No mirth of those who shout by reason of wine can ever be likened to the holy excitement of a soul that is in the Presence of God and knows that it is there. So bring your husband's case there, to the mercy seat, by the Propitiation which Christ has made. Trust Christ's word, take the comfort of it, and go your way. It is thus that Jesus says authoritatively to each penitent, "Man, your sins are forgiven you." And then, according to His wisdom and His love, the fever leaves, and the limbs are strong once more.