In Responce to "Faith Healing"...

I came upon this quote last week:

"Our Substitute bore both our sins and our sicknesses that we might be delivered from them. Christ's bearing of our sins and sicknesses is surely a valid reason for trusting Him now for deliverance from both." F.F. Bosworth

I can't disagree with this assumption more. It is based on this verse:

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:4-6)

So, am I saying I don't agree with this verse? No. What I disagree with is the belief that somehow this verse guarantees instant healing. Most people, who believe this, also believe that if instant healing doesn't come then it is the fault of the supplicant, that they must not have enough faith.

Nowhere in this verse do I see a promise for instant healing. Nor do I find that promise anywhere else in the bible. In fact I see this in the scriptures:

"Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." (Romans 8:17, NIV)

" I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." (Romans 8:18-19, NIV)

"Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:10, NAS)

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day." (2 Corinthians 4:16, NIV)

I'm not saying the promise isn't real. He did bear our sorrows and iniquity and by his stripes we are healed. But, I don't see anything in the promise that makes it a now thing. A promise delayed is still a promise. Isn't that what Hebrews 11 is all about?

"All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth." (Hebrews 11:13, NIV)

The Promised Land was promised to the Israelites, it was theirs, yet it took 40 years for them to get there. God's promises are no less true because we have to wait for them.

I know my healing is promised. I just have to wait for God to give it to me. In His time, not mine, and how much faith I have or don't have won't stop God from doing His will in my life. That's where grace comes in. He is giving me what I don't deserve: love, forgiveness, strength, power...the fruit of the Spirit. His grace isn't based on anything I do or don't do. Grace is exactly what it is, undeserved love. I deserve death. What I get is grace.

.Instant healing is not for everyone this side of heaven. For some of us, including me, it is the pain and illness that allows me to be the best witnesses in this world. It also allows us to better weep with a hurting world. I am called to do this as much as any calling God gives.

"I am healed of the need to be healed." From an interview with football coach with ALS