It has come to my ear that a dear lady among you is suffering with a stomach affliction, and that upon ### where she dwells, many such complaints have arisen since the placing of ###. Whatever the secondary causes, let us look higher, to the hand of the Lord who wounds and who binds up, who smites and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations. O that she might now experience the truth, that the very least thing about Christ is healing! Even if she cannot reach the sweet fruit of His manifest presence, let her but touch the hem of His garment, or gather up a fallen leaf from that Tree of Life, and virtue shall flow into her weak frame.
Often, a sickness of the body is the door by which the Good Physician enters to heal the soul. As it is written, the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity. Forgiveness and healing are placed in happy conjunction. Let your prayer rise to His throne out of the low dungeon of your pain. Expect that He will be very pitiful and have compassion upon you in your misery. When the soul is at its wit’s end, and the prayer seems to reel and stagger without orderly expression, even then the Lord hears. A true prayer from one who is near unto the gates of death is a prevailing prayer! Spread your case before Him, plead His promises, and argue your necessity, this is the very essence of supplication. Do not let the dark suggestion that prayer is unavailing drive you from your closet. Spurn that thought with all your might, and cry to Him both in the daytime and in the night, for the Lord will yet hear.
I would gently admonish her, too, to consider whether the excessive use of coffee may not be a provocation to the weakness she feels. We are not to be enslaved by any appetite, but to bring even our eating and drinking under the rule of Christ. Sometimes a small obedience in the body may open the way for a larger healing. Yet, far above this, let her look to the power of united prayer. It is a precious use of the prayer meeting that the Church may plead for individuals. Let the saints bear her name before the mercy seat, and with one accord besiege the throne of grace. There, where two or three are gathered, Christ is present with power to heal. Remember how the Lord Jesus withdrew into the wilderness and prayed, and afterward the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick. Let her seek the fellowship of praying brethren, for the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
Be not disheartened if the answer tarries. Jacob’s prayer was answered, but not in the way he expected. The Lord may first deal with the roots of sin, and then make the healing leaves to sprout. Only you who have been healed can tell of the Good Physician’s skill. Trust Him, dear sufferer, and though your faith be feeble, He will not quench the smoking flax. Take your stomach pain, your anxiety over these modern contrivances of man, and cast all upon Him who careth for you. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds, and be sure He regardeth the pains of the body also. May the Sun of Righteousness arise upon you with healing in His wings, and may you soon rejoice in strength restored, to the praise of His glory. Amen.