Healing in His Name

There is hope for healing in the name of Jesus. There are many people suffering from different sorts of health problems. There are sicknesses that not even modern medicine could cure. There are diseases that are incurable. But there is hope in God. There is healing in the name of Jesus. God is the ultimate Physician. Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” -Luke 4:18-19. He is able to deliver you from any form of oppression and captivity even being captive to a disease or sickness. He can set you free from any form of disease, sickness, or affliction. David said, “O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me.” -Psalm 30:2.

Jesus has the power to heal you. One of my favorite stories of healing in the Bible is that passage in Mark 5:25-34 where a woman was suffering from a discharge of blood for 12 long years. No doctor was able to heal her and she had no more money left to spend for her treatment. When she heard about Jesus, she pushed through the crowd and touched the garment of Jesus. “For she said, ‘If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.’ And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ” -Mark 5:28-29. Jesus told the woman, “And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.'” -Mark 5:34. What does this story of healing teaches us? First, God is able to heal you no matter how long the sickness has ravaged your body. He has the power to heal you. Second, you have to come to God in faith and believe that He is able to heal you. That woman who had not seen Jesus just heard about the miracles and healing that Jesus did and she believed. She did not even approach Jesus face to face nor held His hand. She just followed Jesus at his back through the crowds and touched his garment. Did the garment make her well? No! It is her faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Third, Jesus has love and compassion for the sick. That sick woman met Jesus for the first time. Yet, Jesus called her daughter. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus, God calls you His child. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” -John 1:12. He has compassion on all His children. “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” -Psalm 103:13.

What if the healing seems to be hopeless? While it is true that God is able to heal and restore sick people to good health, there are times God does not choose to remove the pain, adversity, or even the disease in us. When God allows pain and suffering, even in the form of sickness, He provides comfort, strength and provision too. He is with you in the adversity. God does not think like us. His plan is always perfect and loving. His wisdom is always excellent. There may be things in your life that you find difficult to understand. Take for example, a sick loved one who is suffering for many years already and you are still waiting for God’s hand of healing up to now. Where is God? Where is His healing? Learn from Apostle Paul, “So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2 Corinthians 12:7-10. We may not know exactly what the thorn in the flesh that the apostle was referring to but it is evident that he suffered because of it. God allowed it and did not remove it in his life because God is directing Paul’s dependence on Him and not on self. To keep him from being proud and conceited. Like in Paul’s situation, God allows pain in your life for a good purpose. Weakness and pain in life can draw you closer to God and enable you to fully rely on Him. In Christ Jesus, when you are weak, you are strong!