Last week I wrote an entry about the word of faith movement. In the preface I asked that readers view both parts of this discussion before forming their opinions on my position. Please, if you haven't yet, read part 1 here, as it is the companion piece to the blog you are now reading.
I could never be accused of being a "name it and claim it" kind of gal. Like many, I have often equated this tactic with materialism and found it counter to the Word. Sadly, I fear I have at times been found on the other side of the pendulum of faith, having no faith at all. For some reason, we find it hard to find our center, that place where we have faith in God, but understand that while some things are out of His will, they are never out of His control.
For too long, I have struggled with having deep faith in God's ability, because faith left too much room for disappointment. I didn't want to be the fool who said boldly, "God will heal me", because what if He didn't? What if in His sovreignty He decided to let me live in my infirmities?
Let me be clear, I believe in divine healing. I have seen it, I have even experienced it. While in my mother's womb, my mother suffered severe complications, and the doctors told her she would miscarry. She had been on bed rest for a month and in the hospital for a few days for her own health, as the doctors told her the chances of my survival were little more than zero.
She saw only one way around my inevitable demise. Our church's biannual General Assembly was coming up. One of the most important and looked-forward to services was (and still is) the healing service. Men and women would line up, full of faith, for the men and women of God to lay hands on them.
My mother was convinced that if Harper Hunter prayed for her, she would be healed. That was her hope. That was her only hope. She didn't think this man had some sort of mystical power, but she knew that he was filled with the Spirit. To her, this man was the modern-day representation of the hem of Jesus's garment. If she could just get to him, the Spirit in him would cure her and give me a fighting chance.
So she left her bed, against doctor's orders, to travel from Indiana to Cleveland, TN. When the time came for prayer, she knew what had to be done. She fought through the crowds to make sure she got in Brother Hunter's line. When he came by, he prayed "God heal her." My mother's reaction was what most of us would have thought, "I did all this, and that's ALL he said?"
The truth is his word's didn't matter. It was her faith, her perseverance, her fight that made her (and me) whole! When she returned home, she didn't go back to bed. She not only carried me to term, I was two weeks late! As my mom says it, "that's proof that God is more than enough!"
What if she had said "it's foolish to believe in divine healing. I'm not going against doctor's orders on the off-chance that God will heal me. I'm not going to push through, I'm not going to believe because it will hurt too much if I'm wrong"? I wouldn't be here, that's what would have happened! Imagine the pressure faith put on her. If the prayer didn't work and I had died, she would have been blamed and blamed herself for going against what man told her to do, even though man didn't give me a chance at all. But see, that's the point, faith steps in when you have no other option but to have faith!
Maybe this is the true root of my issue with people who say "God wants you to prosper, so have faith and you'll get a new car!" That's not what faith is for! Faith is for when you have nothing left. When your options have run out, that's when you learn what faith is about. In this moment, God is stretching my ability to believe in His provision. I don't have the time to tell you all the ways He has shown up just in time for me in the last 6 months. Just know that with every arrival of His grace and provision, my faith has grown.
Hebrews 11:1 asks an important question and then answers it when it says, "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see. God gave His approval to people in the days of old because of their faith." The chapter goes on to tell the stories of men and women who God used because of their faith. The interesting thing is what happens in the end to the members of this "hall of faith". Verses 33 through 40 tells us:
"By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them. They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. Women received their loved ones back again from death. But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free. They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection. Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips. Others were chained in prisons. Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half,and others were killed with the sword. Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated. They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised."
Can't you see? Faith isn't about what you get in the end, so your faith can't be dependent on whether your not you receive on earth what you desire! Some of these men and women were rewarded and revered, but some suffered. There is not a distinction made that says the ones who triumphed here on earth had more faith! Faith is not about what you get, it is about your relationship with God and your "good reputation" (read:witness) to those on earth.
So I'm begging you, don't do what I did. Don't abandon faith because the term is so often misused or because you fear the "what ifs". Realize now that faith is your only option, because when your options are gone, faith is all that remains.
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