“That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon possessed… and Jesus healed many who had various diseases.” Mark 1:32,34
This sentence tucked in Mark is easy to overlook. Perhaps I saw it because I just helped prepare and serve a dinner to the families whose children were in the hospital. In a span of an hour I saw a mother who had lost her baby and another’s who had been miraculously brought back to life after over an hour of CPR. Both were believers.
This passage states all were brought to Jesus and many were healed. Not all, but many. Why? Were some more worthy than others? Did some not have enough faith? Were there unconfessed sins that blocked the healing power? Anyone who has had a loved one suffer a debilitating or chronic illness and has not had their prayers of healing answered has asked similar questions. They are tough questions, but never let them be faith destroying ones.
Faith should never be dependent on results. We cannot see the future or the mind of God. Faith tells us, no matter what, that our Lord is always in us and beside us to give us comfort and strength and peace. In the Epistles, Paul, Peter and others never prayed to be out of their situations, they prayed for God to see them through it. And He was faithful to do so. He still is. Healing is not always in the physical realm. This temporal home and body only lasts in a blink of an eye in comparison to the eternity of no sorrow and pain that awaits the believer.
Heavenly Lord, We cry out to you for healing. You, in Your wisdom, answer that prayer always, and healing does occur, sometimes in death, sometimes in the heart, sometimes in the body. Help us to see You in the midst of pain and suffering, be it physical, emotional or spiritual. Become our beacon to guide us and our loved ones through this life into the eternal light that awaits all believers in Your Son. Amen.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” 2 Cor 1:3-4
