Henry Blackaby, about his experience when his child was diagnosed with cancer at age 16 (excerpt from Experiencing God - the Musical):
"The cancer treatments could have been very devastating for us, but did God still love us? Yes he did. Had his love for us changed? No it had not.
"When you face circumstances like this, you can question and ask God to show you what is going on. We did that. We had to ask Him what we should do. We asked all those questions, but I never said, 'Lord, I guess you don’t love me anymore.'
"At times I went before the heavenly Father and saw behind my child the Cross of Jesus Christ and I said 'Father, don’t ever let me look at my circumstances and question your love. Your love for me was settled on the Cross. That has never changed and it never will.'"
POWER OVER EVERY SICKNESS
When we are in need of a healing miracle, many of us will turn to God. Some will come to Him and claim their healing, expecting to receive their miracle because they prayed for it and believed it would happen. But, if they do not receive their miraculous healing, either they will be disappointed in God and question His love, or they will reason it away as a lack of faith on their part.
What can we learn about the healing miracles of Jesus? (Matthew 8:1-17)
The leper who came to Jesus for healing did not doubt Jesus' ability to cleanse him, but was uncertain only about His willingness: "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." The centurion who asked Jesus for his servant to be healed believed that Jesus had the authority to heal by a simple command. His servant was healed the moment Jesus declared it, though nothing is said about his servant's faith in Jesus. Peter's mother-in-law was so completely healed of her fever that she was able to immediately serve her guests. And, the many sick who came to Jesus for healing that evening needed to be set free from evil spirits. Through those miracles, we know that God as all authority over all sicknesses and disease and that His healing miracles do not depend on our faith.
We so often misunderstand what is meant by "your faith has made you well." We certainly need faith in God, or we wouldn't bring our need to Him, and we certainly need to believe that He is capable of healing every disease. But, if He has the authority over everything that He has made, then He certainly also has the authority to deny us our request. God can have a variety of reasons to deny or accept our request for a healing miracle. Among the reasons to deny our request may be His desire to call us home to His presence in heaven. So before we claim our healing, let's remember to bring our needs to Him as requests, not demands. And, let's remember when we bring our requests, to say to God, "nevertheless, Thy will be done" and trust Him, both for His ability to heal and for His wisdom choose the right response.
When Kim was diagnosed with breast cancer last year, we shared that news with just our family, our church family and a few close friends. We went to our good and loving Father in prayer and we followed the advice of our capable doctors. Thankfully, the lumpectomy and radiation treatments were successful and just recently, through follow-up scans and mammograms, Kim received the "all clear." We didn't receive a healing miracle but we are continually sustained supernaturally and we feel God's intimate presence. Like Henry Blackaby (quoted above), we never questioned God's power or His love for us throughout our experience, because we know that He sometimes allows His loved and chosen ones to suffer. After all, He let His Beloved Chosen Son suffer the Cross to give us eternal life and draw us into His presence.
If you think you can twist God's arm, by claiming your healing miracle in faith, then you can't also be expecting to see His mighty hand and outstretched arm.