04/07/2026
When we are young, we have a certain amount of confidence in our bodies and lean more on their ability to perform well and heal themselves, but as we age our faith in them wanes, and our trust shifts more and more towards God’s ability to heal us. When we are sick and have access to a doctor we find that our confidence is more inclined to be in the practice of medicine, but when no doctor is available, then our cry goes out to God. The challenge for the young is to have the faith of the old and the suffering of a patient in the hospital who prays the prayer of a poor and desperate soul. Do we find that our hope and faith in God reflects the strength of each age we have experienced… of the span of life?
“In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”
Romans 4:18-21 ESV
When I was diagnosed in my sixties with cancer it was quite a different experience than when I had chickenpox as a boy. In my childhood I laid in bed as my mother dabbed my sores with corn starch and water. I had total confidence in her, and in my body’s ability to heal itself. However, later in life when my body wasn’t so resilient and the diagnoses less certain, my trust shifted away from medicine, and I called out to God for mercy and healing. Dire circumstances shatter our trust in ourselves, our bodies, and in the aid of others. We seek the Lord fervently and throw ourselves into His arms knowing all else might fail. Why do we wait? Why must we be aged or in the midst of some great travail before our faith becomes the armor we wear. Listen to the words of Pastor Andrew Murray as he speaks on the subject of our spiritual malaise when we place our trust in medicine before God...
“It is true that in the case of healing obtained by earthly remedies, many people would be more blessed in remaining ill than in recovering health, but it is quite the opposite when healing comes directly from the hand of God. In order to receive divine healing, sin must be truly confessed and renounced, one must be completely surrendered to the Lord, and the will of Jesus to take charge of the body must firmly be counted on.” - Andrew Murray
Pastor Murray lived in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but human nature hasn’t changed much. Our faith and relationship with God still vies for position with our physical selves, and the world that surrounds us. Our youth still desires us to have confidence in ourselves, and the help of men remains easy to see and to place trust in during everyday hardship. The struggle for us becomes one of believing as Abraham did that an old man’s decrepit body could Father a nation if God so willed it, and like Sarah did in believing that the movement she felt in her aged womb was a miracle of the Lord.
“For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.”
Psalms 97:9 ESV
Foregoing medical attention is not the point today, it would be foolish to do that... the point is in the ease of faith in God when there is no place left to turn, and how we are tempted to place our hope in our own selves, and the world, when they are viable options. This is the challenge that the faithful face; to place God first in all things, and at all times. This is the struggle of every Christian... to call on the name of Jesus before all others. To pray such things as “Father, help and bless these doctors as they demonstrate your will by healing me… even when they know not what they do.”
In the time of Jesus human nature was no different. We read of Him healing the lame, the blind, the woman suffering from vaginal bleeding, the lepers, and raising the dead, but these are all dire needs. Would a person have travelled far to seek healing from Jesus if all they were suffering from was a scratch, or a cough? Maybe they would, but that isn’t our inclination now, and I doubt it was then either; even when seeing the very real Jesus standing right in front of us and witnessing the miracles He performs. Knowing that Jesus abides in us, and God is with us always, do we still resist calling out to them first; even before we call for an ambulance?
“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.”
Jeremiah 17:14 ESV
So, where is our trust? Do we prefer what is convenient, what we can see, and those things that are physically natural in the world? Do our voices call on God and Jesus Christ for miracles in our youth with the same intensity that they do in our old age? Do we cry out in prayer to God only when we believe that no other healer can help us? Do we find that placing God first above all else is a challenge, and that placing the world and our own ability above Him is the greatest temptation that we face? If so then let’s call out for the Lord our God to help us in our unbelief and to strengthen us in our faith when we are lacking in trust. Let’s praise and worship Him now with the same intensity and enthusiasm we will muster in the hour of our deliverance. Let’s lean on the wounds and suffering of Jesus for our healing. Can we do these things?
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
1 Peter 2:24-25 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for being the pinnacle of my life, and He who I turn to with all my needs, and with all my praise. I thank you Holy Father for the years that have made my body frail, because in my frailty I lean on you all the more, and before all else. I thank you Father for the sicknesses and diseases that only you can heal, because they keep me ever on my knees in prayer and calling out the holy name of your Son Jesus in the midst of my suffering. You are mighty, and the one great God above all gods. There is no other before you, and I pray for your forgiveness, especially in those times when I am being tempted to place my trust in others before seeking you. You are my all in all, my strong tower against the onslaught of the world, and in you alone is my faith, my hope, and my confidence; let no other name leave my lips before yours, let my hands reach out to you in more than desperation, and let my eyes seek your face in every moment of my day. Great are you my God, and greatly are you to be praised. You are Holy Lord, and in the midst of my tears I cry out time and time again... “Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou, my God Almighty. Your mercy and grace abound without ceasing, and in them I give you all honor and glory forever.”
“So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.”
Psalm 71:18 ESV
Hallelujah and Amen!
Rich Forbes