By: Pastor Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
Faith is only as good as the object in which you place it.
Trusting a homeless man who promised to give you a million dollars is foolhardy. The object of such faith is foolish and believing you’ll be a million dollars richer is folly.
Again: Faith is only as good as the object in which it is placed. That’s why God is the only reliable object for your faith and mine. Only he can be counted upon to be trusted every single time. God alone has always kept every promise he ever made.
That’s why we’re encouraged to trust in him. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3.5)
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God. Trust also in me” (John 14.1). Let’s track the intersection of faith and healing as an example.
There are those who believe that God always heals, and when healing doesn’t occur, it’s because someone didn’t have faith.
Seems to me that puts a lot of undue guilt on those who prayed for a loved one who died instead of getting healed. “It must be my fault,” they think.
But is it? The Bible clearly teaches that God heals and that we must ask in faith. But is the necessary conclusion that God always heals if we have faith? And conversely, that when God doesn’t heal, it’s because someone didn’t have enough faith?
Hardly. Sometimes in the Gospels and Acts, we read about people being healed where faith seemed to be totally absent. Other times, we read of great men of faith asking for healing, and they aren’t.
So how do we fit that into a “believe and you will be healed” formula? Here’s what I believe about healing and faith.
God is who he says he is, and he can do what he says he can do. God is a Healer, and he can heal. God is also a Father who loves us more than we can imagine and always gives us what is best.
Maybe healing isn’t always the best. Jesus’ words in Matthew 7.9-11 pronounce a solid foundation for faith. After telling us to pray for what we want, he goes on to paint a bigger context for praying in faith.
“You parents — if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not!
So, if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”
Sometimes our kids ask us for things that aren’t good for them. “Can I play in the street? Can I eat this bag of candy? Can I take my boyfriend into my bedroom so we can ‘study’?”
We tell them no. Does that make us bad parents? Does that mean we don’t love our kids?
God is a far better parent than any of us. Sometimes he says no to the things we ask him for. Does that mean he’s not a good God, or that he doesn’t love us?
Healing requires faith. But faith in what? Faith in the result we want? Or faith in that God knows what is best for us?
The bottom line in the whole question of healing and faith is this question: Where am I placing my faith? Is it in a pre-determined result — healing — or is it in God?
Do I only trust God when he does what I’ve asked? Or do I trust that the God who is always good and always loves me can see a bigger picture than I can?
When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane a few hours before his arrest and trial, he told God what he wanted — “If it is possible, take this cup from me.” Jesus knew God could send a legion of angels to rescue him from arrest, the mockery of a trial, and the excruciatingly painful crucifixion looming on the horizon.
But there was something bigger at play than Jesus’ deliverance from suffering. Something better — our salvation.
Jesus’ faith wasn’t in an escape from anguish and misery. His faith was in God. “Yet not as I will, but as you will,” was Jesus’ bottom line.
That must always be our bottom line. Pray in faith for what you want. Ask God to do what he says he can do. But keep your faith in God, not in a specific result. Faith that he will answer your prayer in the way that is best for you.
Let your unwavering faith rest in Him. Nothing else.
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.