Chasing the wind

These last few days, health and healing have been on my mind. A few days ago, a woman at church asked if I was on the transplant list. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized she was asking me the question because I use a ventilator to breathe. "Oh, no. I am not on a transplant list. There is nothing to transplant. It is my respiratory muscles, in particular my diaphragm muscles, which are weak. They do not transplant these muscles," I replied.

Last night, a friend of mine mentioned a church she attended did a healing service for a woman. The Pastor demanded in the name of Jesus Christ for the cancer to leave the woman. My friend thought this was not Biblical and decided not to attend that church again. As I searched the Scriptures for several hours last night, I came to the conclusion there was nothing non-Biblical about the event. Demanding in the name of Jesus Christ for something to be done was taking the literal translation of Mark 11:22-23, "And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you.'" So, the Pastor, through his faith in Jesus, was telling the cancer to remove itself from inside the woman. Asking for it to be done in the name of Jesus Christ allowed his fellow brothers and sisters to know and understand by what power he was asking for this act of healing (since healing can only be achieved by two means, by God or by Satan). What an example of this pastor's faith and belief in Jesus.

Today, as I look at all my medical appointments, tests and procedures, I feel like I have wasted my time chasing the wind. There are far too many things which happen inside us which can cause disease and illness. We still have not found a cure for the common cold or the flu, and now we seem to put our complete faith in researchers and doctors to find a cure for countless diseases which are far more complicated. This is where we all stumble--we put our faith in the wrong thing. God shows us again and again through Scripture, with one look or with one touch or with a few words, diseases can be cured. There are no pills to swallow, surgeries to endure or painful procedures to suffer through. Yet, through all His miracles, we still turn away from Him and put our trust in man. "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. That which is crooked cannot be made straight; and that which is lacking cannot be numbered" (Ecclesiastes 1:14-15).