I heard a good preacher one time say we can only get healed in three ways: medically, miraculously, and momentarily. That is, someday in the future we will be healed through resurrection. Of course, it’s not just restored but upgraded.

Sometimes we want to take God out of the medical but remember that medicine is a gift from God. Now, I encourage you to pray over that pill before you take it. Be wise. Don’t put all your trust in your doctors. Do your research and have a good pharmacist you can ask questions to, but more than anything pray for God’s guidance.

There are times when Christians do get sick, but there is hope in the Lord. Jesus Christ is the answer to every need that we have. Pilippians 4:19 says, But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” This includes needs for the spirit, needs for the soul, and needs for the body.

Adrian Rogers used to always say, “In Jesus, we have the victory. There is no reason why a Christian should be born crying, live complaining and die disappointed.” Christians ought to be victorious persons. 1Corinthians 15:57 says But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. In spite of the victory we have, Christians do suffer affliction and we need healing. I mean just because Jesus isn’t physically walking around healing people doesn’t mean that He has stopped His healing work.

Healing demonstrates divine compassion, but it doesn’t just extend to the body. God desires to heal our mind, our emotions, and our soul. That’s exactly what happened with a man in Luke 8:26-39. Now, we don’t know his name, but God healed this man and transformed him from a vessel used and possessed by Satan to a vessel used and filled by the Spirit of God.

Isn’t that what God desires for all of us, to be born again, to be renewed and healed from the sting of sin? Let’s look at a few things the Bible has to say about healing.

First of all, God, desires to heal. Jesus wanted to go to the other side of the lake and not even a storm made him turn back. Jesus went out of his way to reach this man. The Scriptures tell us that he had been cast out of the city, afflicted by demons, had cut himself, was crying out, and had no clothes. Praise the Lord, God heard his cries. Don’t ever think that God doesn’t hear your cries.

The second thing we see is that God wants you to seek Him for your healing. The Scriptures tell us that this man ran to Jesus. This man had been tortured and controlled by a legion of demons and yet he ran toward Jesus. That wasn’t the demons running to Jesus, that was the man seeking deliverance.

Sin will tear you apart and hurt your soul, and body, and mind. It will bind you in chains like this man. Its wages are death and it will leave you lonely and isolated. Who knows why this man had so many demons. Yes, Satan was causing his sickness, but it could be just your sin that causes your sickness. I John 5:6, says there is a sin unto death. Sin, whether it’s addiction or sexual immorality, whatever it is, can kill you. Some people are just born with illness. We don’t know how this man ended up in this state but what’s important is he ran to Jesus. God tells us to pray and go to a power higher than Monroe hospital. Yes, still go to the hospital, but go to God first and pray for wisdom, guidance & healing. Psalm 61:2 says, From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

Now, God doesn’t heal everyone. I’m not saying I get everything I ask for. He hasn’t healed my wife yet or my daughters who have health problems. God didn’t heal Paul when he prayed and he had more faith than we do. God has a divine will, and we cannot always understand why He does and sometimes does not heal. So don’t let someone tell you that you don’t have enough faith. He desires to heal, and He wants you to seek Him, but the healing may just be mentally, spiritually, or emotionally and not physically. As Jesus said in the garden, ‘if this cup may not pass from me, then not my will be done but Thy will be done”.

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Matthew Spoonhour is pastor of First Baptist Church, Monroe.