One of my favorite preachers/writers/thinkers is John Piper, and he recently 2 message series at a conference in the UK on "Treasuring Christ and the Call to Suffer". You can listen to the messages online or download them from Piper's own website, Desiring God, here. In reading notes about the message on another blog, I came across this quote:
"God is both healer and the one who satisfies the suffering soul. We can glorify God by being healed. Piper said he believes wholeheartedly in the gift of healing. He thinks we should ask God to heal people by placing hands on the sick person’s shoulder. No need to add magic words. “If it be your will.” Just ask. Do what you would want someone else to do for you. If you love people, you will pray for them.
But in verse 23 we groan inwardly. In the midst of suffering that is not removed by healing, the cross purchased the grace to still be satisfied in God. Even we groan. This is there to prevent over-realized eschatology. Since Christ has purchased healing some say it is all now. Excessive charismatics get the notion that we can have every healing now. In fact, the sustaining grace is normal in this age, and the healing grace seems less common. God wants the people around us to marvel at the worth of Jesus when we love him in pain.
Why does the proportion of these two graces work the way it does? When a person is miraculously healed of a cancer, there are several things about that which do not bring as much glory. There are several ambiguities about healings that mean less praise might go up to God. First of all, people doubt the medical side of it and say that the original pictures were wrong. Second, are people praising the glory of Jesus or are they giving glory to health? Third, a few years later the healing is probably largely forgotten and there are no more prayer meetings for that man. In a sense that is perhaps why God doesn't always heal—in order that the value of Christ might be seen in a man who goes on loving God in the midst of suffering."
These are some new thoughts for me on some possible reasons why God may have chosen not to heal me or end my "unexpected journey" with cancer yet - perhaps his greater desire is to develop the prayer lives of myself, my family, my church family, and many friends all over the world, to develop my dependence on Him for daily strength and stamina, or just because He gets greater glory through the choices I make in the midst of dealing with cancer than He would if I was healed (miraculously or through the medicine, treatments, and doctors). If any of those are true (and we will most likely never know this side of heaven), and God is truly sovereign over the lives of all men (and I believe He is!), then I have no choice but to submit to God's will and simply live and make choices that honor and glorify Him today, in whatever condition I find myself, and when it comes right down to it, neither do any of us that call ourselves followers of Jesus.
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In my devotions yesterday I was brought to 1Peter 1:3-9. Better words were never spoken! Remembering that our trials and sufferings prove our faith genuine when we remain in Christ is the bottom line. John Piper is on to something for sure. What would it mean if we turned away because of our trials? If we reject Christ when times are hard it proves he never lived within us. When we love him no matter what the circumstances then we DEMONSTRATE and PROVE that God does indeed have the power to reside within us, he is the One true God, it is all REAL and what matters most is eternal glory. If he wasn't a LIVING God then he would not be able to use us to demonstrate His power and worth. I will never forget one of the many times I asked him to heal me completely and He replied "You are healed!" Meaning that my sins were forgiven at the time of my salvation and there is no greater healing than that. Of the two, spiritual healing is the one God cares about most. Physical healing is only a venue to spiritual healing. When already spiritually healed, God may choose to use you to demonstrate His worth and the reality of His living within us to begin the process of softening rebellious hearts to Him. In the long run, it is worth the suffering.
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