As a nurse, I take care of a lot of sick and injured people, and that can be emotionally hard sometimes. Much more difficult, however, is having a family member who has health problems. After years of dealing with a gradually worsening health situation, with some recent interventions that looked extremely hopeful but have been much more disappointing than expected, it has been difficult to stay encouraged, especially when my loved one suffers daily.
What is possibly even more upsetting is the fact that I have prayed many, many times for her healing, and it’s not like I am a novice at healing the sick. I have prayed for many people to be healed of a range of conditions, with a decent measure of success, and there are times when it feels like it is far easier to heal a random stranger (whom I care about far less than my family, although I do care) than it is to heal my family members. There also seems to be an irritating trend among faith-healers that we seem to be able to heal many people, but with our own families, things don’t seem to work as they should. And while I don’t accept that as an immutable rule, it does appear to be a trend that I have yet to understand the full reason behind.
So, for those reading who think they have the “simple, easy solution” for this healing problem, and I “just need to do this or that”, when I am feeling discouraged about a loved one not getting healed, I’m willing to bet that 99% of the time, I have already tried whatever the faith-filled suggestion is. The present situation has been after years of prayer and fasting combined with medical interventions, and an awful lot of faith. To me, when all of this has gone into the situation and still no results, it seems pretty reasonable to be discouraged when it feels like I can do very little to solve the problem. And let’s be honest, at the end of the day, right or wrong, we all want results.
Well, after some very recent setbacks, and feeling pretty down, I spent some time crying, basically hiding from my family in part of the house so they wouldn’t see me crying and get more upset themselves. Then I connected with a close friend by phone who was, as always, super encouraging, and who was entirely unable to fix the problem too, but just continued to love and encourage me during my struggle. As all of this was happening, I was also spending time in prayer and asking the Lord to give me wisdom on how to move forward, because I know a few things pretty clearly:
1) This problem is not the will of God, because He is good and this is evil.
2) This problem was not given by God, but by the enemy.
3) Jesus already said “yes” to healing the problem 2000 years ago on the cross.
4) God already has a plan to fix the problem in the here-and-now.
As I was praying, I felt God tell me something, and remind me of something else. First, He just kept telling me what a good job I was doing. While it sounds lovely, I find it frustrating at times when He tells me that, because I can get extremely results-oriented and when I am doing everything I know to do to solve a problem and it still isn’t getting fixed, being told how great I am doing can be maddening. However, as I thought about it, Him telling me this reminded me to be less results-focused and to just continue to love well through the process, something my buddy also pointed out. Second, I was reminded that it’s not just faith that gets the job done, but patience.
In Hebrews 6:10-12 Paul wrote to the church and said, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.”
Sometimes it can be hard, very hard, to pray in faith and not see an answer. And sometimes that can go on for years, and it still feels like nothing is happening. But there has never been a single prayer prayed in the history of humanity that God has not responded to in some way, so even when it feels like nothing is happening, we have to look at things from a heavenly view and ask God what He is doing. Next, we have to be patient.
My friends know that especially when it comes to healing prayer, I’m not particularly patient. I expect results now, and if they don’t happen now, then I pray again and expect them now. And again right now, and again right now, until it happens . . . right now. And patience in healing prayer is something God has been gently teaching me about, and I am gradually learning. However, I still firmly believe that instant results should be our preference.
Even while expecting instant results, we have to be people who are invested in a long term view of things. When it comes to praying for healing, or salvation, or really, praying for anything else, do we have a long game? Anyone can be faith-filled for five minutes. Anyone can pray a powerful-sounding prayer and then dash away, onto the next thing to pray about and/or problem to solve. It takes a lot more perseverance to stick things through and week after week, month after month, year after year continue to believe God for the things He has already promised to give us. It takes another level of character to do all of this and not get angry with God or blame Him in the process.
I wish that things happened much faster in the spirit realms than they sometimes do. I am fervently looking toward the day my family is healed and whole with no pain and problems, and continue to hope, pray, and stand in faith for that outcome. Nevertheless, am I willing to stick it out with both faith and patience? The truth is that faith without patience simply will not inherit certain promises. Faith for a short time that then wavers and dies is insufficient to obtain certain things from God. Not because God is withholding from us, but because the enemy is. Not because God is being stingy, but because some results require far more than a one-time prayer to obtain.
So, as I bring this to a close, I want to challenge the reader with this: in areas of your walk with Jesus Christ that you are struggling, do you have what it takes to walk out a long game if needed? If not, what do you need to do to get the patience, perseverance, and endurance so that you can?
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. . . If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” Matthew 7:7-8, 11
