“And his name, by faith in his name, had made this man strong, whom you see and know, and the faith which is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.”
_Acts 3:16
Monday night we had a phone call from yet another terrified mother….”My child is sick! It is life threatening! Please pray!”
This is the third such call in as many months. Here is another gut-wrenching cry for help tearing through a young family; another child’s life at risk; another mother beside herself with fear. This time the threat is a brain tumor. A thirteen year-old boy is having debilitating headaches and blacking out. His doctor has prescribed an MRI and a battery of additional tests to be performed on Friday. The test results won’t be available until the middle of the month.
His mother wants to know – NOW. “How do I wait that long? What if….?”
Years of experience have taught us to face these gut-wrenching, life-altering, moments of fear by running to our Heavenly Father, our ABBA, climbing up on his lap and pouring our hearts out to him. “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn (do an about face away from your fear) and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” _Matt. 18:3-4
We (D & e) have learned, through crisis and fear in our own lives, the only truly safe place to be when fighting for your life, or the life of someone you love, is firmly embraced within the kingdom of heaven. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it (faith) the men of old received divine approval. By faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.” _Heb. 11:1-2 (emphasis mine)
Picture yourself as a child (are you a child of God), warmly embraced in the arms of a loving father, pouring out your heart’s desire; knowing (by faith) he is willing and able to grant your requests because he promised he would. And the good news is he never breaks his promises. Trust in and rely on the promises God made to his children regarding their healing.
Don’t misunderstand what I’m telling you here. Medical science is wonderful. Many doctors are men of faith. God can use all of the wonders of modern medicine and men with training and a commitment to accomplish His will. But, the only power we have available to us in times of crisis is the Word (the promises) of God.
We are told, “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
We are told the name of Jesus is above every name; that at the name of Jesus “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil 2:9-11, Isa 45:23, Romans 14:11
We read this to mean Cancer, brain tumors, sickness and all disease are names that must bow their knees to the name of Jesus.
Monday night, while I was talking on the phone, saying the same things I always say when one of those calls comes, it dawned on me, “She may not even have a Bible with her. Even if she has a Bible with her – she has no idea where to look for the promises you’re talking about. You’re talking a language it’s taken years for you to learn and understand!” Giving a panic-stricken mother, whose child is facing a medical crisis, instructions to ‘look up’ healing scriptures is like offering a drowning mother ice water!
She probably heard me say, “Concur your fear!”
“How?”
“By an act of your will.”
No, That’s not the idea AT ALL. If that’s what you heard, in your time of panic, I apologize.
Here is what I wanted you to get – God’s Word says:
I am the Lord, your healer. Ex 15:26
It (wisdom, the word of the Lord) will be healing to your flesh… Proverbs 3:8
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body. Proverbs 16:24
Bless the Lord….who heals all your diseases…Psalms 103:1-5
He send forth his word and healed them…Psalm 107:19-20
These and hundreds of other promises from God’s word mean that when a crisis arises you don’t have to dissolve into panic.
God sent His Son to the cross, to carry our sickness and bear our diseases.
Isaiah 53:4-6
God’s word is filled with promises telling us he loves us and wants only the best for us. Healing is God’s will for his children. Why would the Father say, “He (Jesus) 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.” unless he intended to fulfil his promises in our lives.
We are told God watches over his word to perform it. Jere. 1:12. We are told God’s word never, ever returns to him without accomplishing the thing for which he sent it. Isaiah 55:11
And, we are told the enemy of our souls…that would be the same old snake who lied to Eve in the Garden… is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44 Jesus tells us he comes but to steal, to kill and to destroy. John 10:10
I can tell you from years of experience, when a crisis comes into the life of a child of God – fear follows. Dick will tell you that the laws of the universe demand that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
The opposite of fear is faith!
If somewhere within the first few minutes of fear, we can react in faith (speak faith – think faith – believe faith) fear will bow down and allow us to climb up in the lap of our Father, accept His promises and watch Him change the crisis on our behalf.
I hope these words will give you something to hang on to as you await the outcome of the tests.
Contentment Cottage 