a developing theology of healing...

okay… another rambling post that’s more for me than for anyone else…

so many people want me to be well.  that’s a wonderful thing.  however… the uncomfortably tricky thing about melanoma is that there’s no way to clearly tell if you’re cured.  there aren’t “levels” to indicate it’s moving in one direction or another.  you either have it or you don’t.  and even if you do… it may look like you don’t… until it shows up again and it becomes clear that you had it all along.

i was talking with a friend yesterday about how quickly we want to get to the end of the story.  we want to live in the castle after the fairy tale wedding rather than in the little house with the big bad wolf.  (unless you’re like some of my sick friends who thrive on horror movies) 

i think to some degree we’re all or nothing christians.  we want the G*D of miracles so badly that too often we miss him in the common. on the other hand… we too easily give up on asking for the unexplainable and settle for the probable.

a lot of it comes down to what we believe Jesus came to do.

forgive… restore… heal… transform… release… make fresh… unify… …yes… all those things and more.

so… i’ve been wrestling with what i believe about G*D and healing…  because… to limit G*D to one way of healing is to limit G*D… and miss out on enjoying him and praising him in what we didn’t see him doing.  as you might expect… i’m asking G*D to teach me whatever he wants me to learn… and as a result… he’s opening my eyes to a much broader theology of healing than i’ve settled for previously.

i guess this betrays that i believe there are multiple ways G*D brings healing.

the unexplainable…

these healings go beyond understanding.  they baffle doctors and science.  they don’t make sense within the realm of the natural.  these are the fun stories that we all pray for and love to hear… even though sometimes we wonder if they’re always true or quite as amazing as we’ve been told.  these are the easiest to give credit to G*D for because we frankly don’t have a better explanation.  even then… some pass them off as flukes or anything other than G*D… desperate not to believe.

the surprising…

these are the things that happen that aren’t completely unimaginable… but they are amazing.  they bring a smile and a sense of relief because they weren’t anticipated.  and those of us living in the realm of faith are certain G*D had something to do with it. those who don’t… are certain he didn’t.

medically…

when good things happen as a result of medicine or science.  what?  you don’t think G*D had anything to do with the developments of science and the human brain?  i shudder to think how many times i’ve considered a medical healing as less than a miraculous healing… almost like it defeated “the cause” somehow.  how appalling it must be to G*D when we ignore his hand in the explainable.  LORD, forgive me.

naturally…

i’ll include here everything from natural medicines, positive thinking, the love of good friends and family… as well as drinking water, eating healthy and exercise (not sure if windex counts here).  and of course i can’t forget to include our amazing immune systems that are constantly working to help our bodies heal themselves.  who do you think created all those things?

through props & orthopedics…

when our burdens aren’t removed physically, but we’re given strength to carry them… through friends, encouragement, the smile of a child or the beauty of a leaf, laughter, peace or simply and profoundly a sense of the very presence of G*D next to us… although not the normal perspective on healing… still healing just the same in my mind.

partly…

after all… we all die at some point.  if physical healing were to be the norm for every follower in every situation… we would never experience physical death.  so… when we experience healing on any level… even partial… we enjoy the appetizers waiting for us at the feast… around the table of The King.

familial…

sometimes the disease forces people to push through anger, silence or hatred that previously separated them.  the healing is more relational than physical.  can anyone suggest these are less significant?

mental…

not just psychological… but the healing of dysfunctional ways of thinking and seeing… the damage of cultures and generations of misunderstanding life and G*D and others.  how we’ve grown insensitive to this sickness that saturates our lives.  could it be that this is in one sense the ultimate healing for this life?  the ability to see things as they truly are?

between ourselves and G*D…

often disease invites us to take fresh looks at our lives and come to terms with the reality that we are falling short of living with & for The One Who Made Us.  we recognize an emptiness that calls us beyond the temporal… and… if we’ll let it… guides us to the one relationship that is more wonderful than all others.  such a healing is surely worth more than them all combined.

death…

i’m somewhat ashamed to say that it’s only recently that i’ve come to understand the beauty of dying.  but when i allow myself to look beyond the event… to what dying accomplishes… i can begin to see it just as legitimate… just as amazing… just as surprising… just as unbelievable a thing that G*D has put into place to repair things… to make things right.   the ultimate restoration.  but when’s the last time i praised G*D for death… except when it brought relief from suffering and pain or old age?  too often i begrudgingly give praise for the very thing that ushers us beyond the frailty of the life that we’ve learned to hold to so tightly.

interestingly enough… i see a thread through my feeble list.  a thread that encourages me to realize that healing is not the destination… but the tunnel through which we must pass to all things good… to him… to life here in the kingdom.

i’m sure there are more… more ways in which his brow sweats from redemptive labor.  seeing the limitless work of G*D around me gives new life to my prayers… adds new hope to my yearnings… and brings new opportunity for my worship and praise.

LORD… let me see YOU in all the glimpses of your love… not just the ones that strike me as amazing.  let me never settle for one facet of your wonder.

Comments

[Rick Lingenfelter]

The more you "ramble," the more I begin to understand. Your journey is providing clarity to what many of us have gone through...are going through...to different degrees. You are a man gifted by God with great insight and you are becoming even more insightful (never thought that was possible). Keep digging and sharing.

[Judy]

I marvel sometimes at how God is working His truths out in the hearts of those He loves...and although I am short on eloquence and possibly somewhat less on words, the lesson is still the same: God is begging us to knock down the walls of what I call my "box of understanding". When I limit God to what I can understand I miss the beautiful tapestry of life He has painted around me. And yes, the same lesson in so many different experiences. His ways are higher than mine, His thoughts are higher than mine and I must add that His box is way bigger than mine. I praise Him that He is showing you in so many ways that He is God...the great I AM. Judy M

[Rick]

Randy, what amazingly insightful theology. Thanks for sharing with us what God is teaching you. I'll be back to your blog to learn more.

[nathan]

Thank you for putting this into words. Your timing on this is colliding beautifully with several other insights I have been running across recently. I appreciate your openness in this, your honesty n the journey. It always encourages me to read your words here.

[Bobbi Bucknam]

Well Randy! I didn't realize what a writer you are! I'm loving reading your musings. Keep em coming. These are the hard questions we all have to wrestle with at some time or another. Thanks for letting us into your mind and heart.

[Ty Meiss]

Randy, thanks for sharing your thoughts, hopes and desires. I've always known you as a man of great insight and I can see that you (and God)continue to hone your gift. I thank God that you take all of life and use it to draw closer to Him. I am even more thankful that you are willing to share your thoughts, your life and your journey with us.

[Eric Hilliard]

Great post. There are certainly many ways that God heals, and certainly reasons we don't know of as to why he doesn't heal. Have you ever noticed the overall lack of prayer that we put in for one another though? How often is our response to someone who is feeling sick, etc., "We'll be praying for you."? We tell someone we'll be praying for them, and yet we won't take that moment to pray with them then and there. I think we're missing out on a lot (myself included) by our lack of one-on-one prayer with people or two-on-one, or so on and so forth. By praying for people only in our personal prayer times, I think we miss out on some true elements of Christian community and we would probably see some truly amazing results. I was pondering some of this the other day, and found myself asking this question, "Where in the Bible have I ever read of someone who was praying for a sick person, while the sick person wasn't there?"