2Co 6:2 For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (ESV)
How often do we hear that somebody wasn’t healed because of God’s timing? God had a different time in mind for when He wanted to heal that person. Today, I want to throw a grenade at that sacred cow. I am not going to go into great detail explaining the atonement again what was included in it all over again, but never the less, here are the scriptures so you can check it out yourself: In Isa 53:4-5 a prophecy is made that Jesus would carry our griefs (Hebrew: sickness, pain, disease) and sorrows (Hebrew: affliction, pain) and that by His stripes we are healed. Then in Matt 8:16-17 we see Jesus healing REAL people of ACTUAL diseases and casting out demons to fulfill this prophecy. Then after the complete fulfillment at the whipping post, where He took the stripes through which you are healed, and by beating death at the resurrection we find in 1 Pet 2:24 that by His stripes we were healed. Since healing is tied in with the same atonement that provides for salvation, you can’t separate God’s will for healing and salvation. One atonement with two parts operating through one will.
Now if you believe that any person can be saved anytime no matter what they have done when they place their faith in Christ, then the same has to hold true for healing since it’s provided for in the same atonement sacrifice. If God were to have a timing for healing, then that would automatically mean God would also have to have a timing for salvation, which would mean you wouldn’t be able to just get saved whenever you wanted to because maybe it wasn’t God’s will for you to get saved that day. Maybe He has another day in mind for you to get saved. Can you see how how ridiculous that sounds? Jesus even used healing to back up His will for forgiveness when He healed the lame man by saying, “Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you.” (Mark 2:10-11) Anytime you separate God’s will for healing and God’s will for salvation, you are stepping out of God’s will for both. They were sovereignly united and should be kept together. The Greek word for heal and save is exactly the same word, sozo. As is the Greek word for healing and salvation, soterio.
From Adam to Jesus and even until the early church, nobody had a problem with God healing. I mean, He calls Himself Jehovah Raphah, or I AM THAT I AM HEALING. Their issue back then was with God saving. The Pharisees didn’t get upset when Jesus healed the lame man, they got upset because He forgave the man. Today, we don’t have an issue with God saving, but we get our knickers in a bunch when it comes to healing. Why? God wants you well! Get over yourself and turn to Him so He can treat you like He wants to!
Jas 5:14-15 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (ESV)
If ANYONE is sick, call the elders and let them pray over the sick person. The Lord will raise that person up. That is scripture people. ANYONE, God WILL raise them up. Look at how that verse ends: And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Bam! Healing first then sins forgiven. Whipping post then cross. Healing then salvation. Always together, always God’s will. God will heal you with sin in your life and use you to heal others with sin in your life.
Now if you minister healing to somebody and nothing happens. Go back and do it again. If nothing happens, go back and do it again. If nothing is still happening, then ask for help from somebody who sees better results. Never give up never surrender. Keep doing this until you see the result. God is faithful. You only fail when you give up. Exercise authority and dominion. (That means learn to use it and then use it regularly. ) You will only learn if you practice. Don’t bury your talents in the ground. Use them and you will be given more! Do the same works Jesus did and greater! God has so much faith in you that He made you an ambassador for Christ. Bring the kingdom to those in need. Touch them and let the Spirit do the rest!
You are blessed!
Cornel
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15 Responses to God’s Timing For Healing?
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Thank You Very Much Cornel!
Thanks for keepin’ it simple and straight to the point!
Amen! Thank you Cornel!
I needed the encouragement! I’ve seen some cool things happen when I lay hands on and pray! Sometimes I see nothing. Unfortunately I get a little discouraged. I will keep on doing it however.
Man, I saw the clock and thought …. I HAVE to find out… so did the calculations to realize it’s a new years countdown… LOL
Good Word too btw ! ;-þ
Light up the barbie – we’re having sacred cow burgers! Nice one Cornel. I just imagine people asking Jesus “when’s a good time?” and he always replying “now’s a good time.” Now is always a good time in God.
What about the resurrection of Lazarus (John 11)? Didn’t Jesus wait until the best time to heal Lazarus before going and raising him from the dead? (John 11:14-15; 38-40)
Hi Trey,
I dont think so no. I believe Jesus waited for a reason, but timing was not that reason. The reason was the same as to why Jesus was resurrected after 3 days: Jews customarily believed that the spirit of a man remains behind for 3 days. Only after 3 days would they believe it to have been a true raising.
Cornel this was such a well written true reflection of God’s heart for us! It totally destroys the arguments that go against healing – anybody who doesn’t believe it’s God’s will to heal should in any case go and read their Bibles again.
Well done over and over again, I really felt my faith stirred as I was reading this. It is the truth!!
Shabba!
Andre van der Merwe
http://www.NewCovenantGrace.com
YES Cornel! Destroying those sacred cows and keeping it simple. Powerful truth – BAM!
Massive blessings.
Philip.
But what if you keep asking, have other people ask, and get nothing, nothing, nothing. I have been a faithful follower of Christ even through difficult times but I am close to loosing my faith over this. It seems like just simply asking isn’t good enough, at least not for me. I heard a Christian speaker say several years ago that the starting point is that you have to believe that God is at least as good as you are but in this case it seems that He’s not. If someone came to me asking for healing, I’d say “You’ve got it now.” It truly seems that when I ask for bread, all I get is a stone. And I’m not alone, it seems that the majority of good, decent God-fearing people that I know simply don’t get healed. Guess I’m not in God’s favored circle, but then again I’m pretty used to that. I get the small things, but never the big things I ask for
Thanks! I love you guys going after these sacred cows! I got some questions though…
Was 2 Cor 6:2 specifically for the Corinthian church? (I wish I had some way of knowing that it applies specifically to me too!!)
I know we ‘were’ healed (as part of the atonement) 2000 years ago, the work ‘was’ done and ‘it is finished’… but what about specific scenarios where God might speak to you and warn you that that moment is not the best moment (even though potentially you could just go up to them pray and heal them)… the context of the place they are at the moment, what they’re doing at the moment, how they’ll interpret your intentions (I was watching some of Dan Mohler’s ‘power evangelism’ Videos and he talked about the Holy Spirit warning them when they started chasing after some people in New York, I think… basically people there thought that they were going to mug them or something…they needed another approach)
I know every moment is potentially decent enough… but aren’t there some situations where that moment or manner of approaching someone will embarrass/scare/scandalize someone? But maybe a little while later God might open up/reveal a better moment/manner to approach, pray for, and heal them?
One of my friends says that she was deeply wounded by a church that really overdid the whole laying on of hands and receiving/giving impartations… and that whenever people lay hands on her to pray for her, she has terrible memories of being hurt at that church and so she has asked God that if she ever gets sick that she can either pray for herself to be healed, or for God to reveal to someone to approach her with wisdom and in a different and special way, because of what she had gone through…
What do you think?
@ Brent: Not to sounds harsh but we are never told to ask for healing. We are told to speak to our mountains. I would strongly recommend that you listen to the Divine Healing Training MP3 which can be downloaded from here:
http://www.charismaministries.org/jglm
@ Esteban:
1. I believe 2 Cor 6:2 is written for all people in all situations. NOW is the day of salvation.
2. Yes can God give you specific instructions on when and how to go about ministry but that is not the norm. Paul going about doing just doing the great commission when the Holy Spirit told him to not go to Asia but to go to Macedonia instead. That doesn’t mean God didn’t want Asia saved, but through what happened in Macedonia the whole of Asia was opened up for the Gospel. When you are out doing the general you can expect some specific instructions.
3. Yes the church has unfortunately alienated and hurt many many believers by being weird. Jesus always healed, but He hardly ever used the same method. Developing a relationship with the Holy Spirit to hear HOW He wants to move is important but not a prerequisite. If you don’t hear hear specifics, do the Word. When you do hear specifics, do them to. Don’t let specifics stop you. I was out praying for a man last week who had fallen and was in severe pain. After we ministered, he was 100% pain free and still is. While we ministered without prompting or leading, Holy Spirit started revealing other things and more illnesses He wanted us to deal with.
4. I understand your friend’s concerns and hate it to hear stories like that. But regret and offence is a terrible place to live in. Even though she got hurt, she needs to know that those people were doing something wrong, not God. There is a difference between use and abuse. Encourage her by letting her know what God’s opinion on the matter is. People make mistakes. We can’t hold God accountable for them. God can meet her where she s at to restore, but it is tough to see His hand if you are cynical already.
Cornel, can I have some help in ministering to a friend who has been greatly hurt by the Charismatic movement? Their father was a Pentacostal pastor, a wonderful man of god who got sick and died 1month after retirement, left a family of teenage boys without a dad, and although people all over the world prayed God didnt heal. Offense taken up, disillusionment. Everything they now believe has to be logical, and rooted in good theology. They are still in full time ministry but at a fundamental org. And church. I just want them to be healed from the hurt. Any thoughts as to how to reveal Gods grace and love, already trying to just love and let Jesus out!–TKS!
Hi Donna,
When people are hurting it is not easy to reason with them. When people are angry at God, it is even harder. Many people don’t want facts to interfere with their made-up minds. I doubt the Charismatic movement killed their dad, but yes, their theology on healing can set people up for disillusionment and hurt when things don’t go as planned. That’s probably the case with your friends I guess. How people die often changes what they believe about God. Would they have felt the same had he died in a car accident regardless of retirement? Probably not. I don’t think it is the death of the man that is troubling them, rather it is the fear of being lied to again.
Cornel
Cornel, what is interesting about the John 11:4 text is that the distance to Bethany from Jerusalem was literally a few hours slow walk. What we see in the scriptures is that when Jesus and his disciples arrive there 4 days later, Lazarus had been dead 4 days already [vs 17 tells us this]. This would mean that Lazarus must have died shortly after the messengers sent by Mary and Martha left for Jerusalem. When Jesus hears Lazarus is sick HE responds by saying “this sickness shall not end in death……” He doesn’t say Lazarus wont die – I believe via a word of knowledge, Jesus knew that Lazarus had died, that is why two days after being told that he must come to assist Lazarus, He tells the disciples that Lazarus is “asleep” and when they dont get what he is saying He plainly tells them that Lazarus had died. Clearly Jesus had chosen to wait another two days because Lazarus was already dead and He knew He could and would raise him from the dead. Jesus never waited another two days whilst Lazarus suffered and then died so that God could get greater Glory from a dead raising. This is crazy thinking.
Agreed, I never said he waited to increase suffering and thus increase glory.