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Job 22:5 – No, it's because of your wickedness! There's no limit to your sins. (NLT)
"Have you anointed her and prayed for her healing?" my friend asked.
My wife suffers with various physical ailments — too many, in fact, for her young age. She has undergone numerous surgeries to remove tumours that could have turned deadly. Then came surgeries to repair hernias, remove a gall bladder, take off plantar warts, and repair carpal tunnel. She still needs to have herniated disks in her back and neck repaired. To top off these issues, she suffers with fibromyalgia, degenerative arthritis, and neuropathy. Every trip to the doctor seems to entail another medicine or a further diagnosis.
Had Michelle lived in Job's time, there would have been any number of good church folks who would be telling her that she had sinned. Though a righteous man — declared so by God and himself — Job was accused by several fair-weather friends of having sinned against God. Why else would he be afflicted by boils and have lost most of his family and possessions? Even his wife told him to curse God so that he could die and get his miserable life over with.
Job maintained his innocence, and at the end of the story, God corroborated his testimony. Sickness is the bane of living in a world tainted by sin. The world that God originally created was free from sickness — and all of the other results of sin — and the new world that He will create at the end of time will also be free of sickness and disease.
While sickness came when sin entered the world, all sickness is not the result of individual sins. If this were true, my wife would be one of the greatest sinners in the world — when in fact, she is quite saintly. God can and does use sickness as a means of discipling or punishing those who revel in wilful sin, but having a cold doesn't necessarily mean that I've committed a particular sin.
When my pastor friend asked if I had anointed and prayed for my wife, my answer was yes. But she hasn't been healed. Just as sickness is not always the result of sin, so God doesn't always choose to heal our sicknesses when we ask. He is sovereign. We must trust His plan.
If we're sick, let's examine our spiritual life. If it's in order, then we'll pray for healing, but leave the results to an all-wise God.
Prayer: Father, we entrust our health-related matters to You. If sin is the cause, convict us. If it's not, then give us courage to trust You and endure. Amen.
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Thank you, Martin, for this very personal devotional and sharing your response to a difficult life.
Martin, thank you for sharing your struggle and your wife’s afflictions. Praying for you both but praising God for how He’s used these struggles to witness to others. Blessings.
Dear Martin and Michelle:
Thank you for sharing. Your names are now in my prayer journal.
God bless you both with all you need.
Thanks Martin.
Your devotional is helpful to me, I do say prayers for my children, but have to know that God knows what is best and we must take things as they are.
Blessings.
Good morning Martin,
Obviously, prayers are not always answered. All we can do is keep on praying that those who are looking after her will be guided to do the right thing. At least that is what I mostly do.
Thank you for writing
Hello Martin,
So sorry to hear about the number of illnesses your wife deals with. May she remain strong in her faith and may God’s healing hands and arms keep surrounding her. We never know why some are afflicted by so many bodily ailments, but we must trust God’s plan and timing for healing.
Blessings for the devotional writings you do.
(B.C.)
Dear Martin,
Great is your faith and that of your dear wife. I admire both of you.
May God heal your dear wife, seeing her and your enduring faith.
Thanks for sharing your story.
God bless you both and your loved ones,
(Ontario, Canada)
What a story.
Sometimes when I have prayed for healing I have been guided to something I can do to help heal myself.
Or been shown a source of stress in myself that has aggravated an existing condition.
I believe all sickness is the result of mankind’s fall. Not necessarily because of an individual’s actions although that can also be the case. A heavy smoker we know may develop lung cancer.
As for your wife, how blessed she is to have such a devoted husband.
Martin,
I must disagree! It is always God’s will to heal. We are New Testament believers – we have a new covenant with God. Not once did Jesus ever not heal someone who asked. Not once did He tell someone they had sinned and must suffer because of it. Jesus has paid the price for all our sins and we are healed. Sorry to disagree but teaching that God makes people sick to teach them a lesson is incorrect. I do appreciate and enjoy your Devotionals.
Mr. Wiles. I thank you for the devotions that you contribute to encourage us. I am sorry for the medical challenges that your wife has endured and endures. Please examine story of Job and we can know what Job did not know but we know that these bad things did not come from our God but from the evil one. God does not punish with sickness and pain. Sin was dealt with at the cross. The gospels tell Jesus healed ALL – he didn’t separate the worthy from the unworthy.
Paul reminded believers that many were sick and even dying because they didn’t discern the Lord’s body at communion. The bread is his body crushed for our healing. By his stripes we are healed. Perhaps Mr. Wiles your family would partake of Holy Communion often as Jesus suggested.
Mr. Wiles it takes much courage to send this letter. You are a gifted writer of the messages from Scripture. I am a humble reader who looks forward each day for these messages. I pray for joy and peace for your family.