You stand by a loved one who faces tumors, and yet you give thanks to God as though she were already perfectly whole. This is not self-deception; it is the very voice of faith that our Lord honors. Remember the centurion, who did not need to see the healing touch, nor ask how it could be done. He simply declared, “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” And Christ marveled, saying, “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” You do the same when you thank God for her complete health before your eyes see it. That is no waste of time. It is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
When doubt whispers that you are spending your energy in vain, recognize its source. It is the same spirit that perplexed Nicodemus, demanding to know “How can these things be?” But the manner of God’s working is not ours to dissect. The wind blows where it will, and you hear its sound but cannot tell its path; so it is with the Spirit who brings life and healing. Do not let unseasonable curiosity or the visible presence of the disease shake your stand. You have heard the Bridegroom’s voice in the Scriptures: “By His stripes you were healed.” That word is sure, established forever in heaven before it is fully manifest in the body. The friend of the Bridegroom stands and hears that voice, and his joy is full. So stand, and keep rejoicing in that voice.
It may seem that your prayers and thanksgivings have not yet produced a change, but consider how often a tree receives many blows and does not fall, then a final stroke brings it down. The earlier strokes were not wasted; they prepared the fall. In the same way, every prayer, every thanksgiving, every confession of health is a stroke against the stronghold of sickness. Do not grow weary. The fever had no sooner left Peter’s mother-in-law than she rose to serve, with no lingering weakness. When Christ speaks full deliverance, it comes in an instant, even if the waiting feels long. So edge yourself with patience and perseverance in the word you have heard.
Therefore, continue thanking God that she is completely healthy. Continue declaring that through the stripes of Christ she is healed. This is not a denial of what the senses report; it is a higher allegiance to what God has spoken. And when the healing does break forth completely, you will see that your faith contributed no little to the work, just as the centurion’s did. Until that day, let your soul be built up by those very words, for faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Stand firm, and do not cease your thanksgiving. The God who restored Epaphroditus from sickness near to death, the God who gave perfect health in a moment, is able to do the same for your loved one. And we join our prayers with yours, asking not that God would become willing, but that the manifestation of His already-won victory would appear, and that your joy, and hers, may be full.