Because of your faith...

Then he touched their eyes and said, “Because of your faith, it will happen.” 
~ Matthew 9:29
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So many times in the healing stories of Jesus he shares with the person, "Because of your faith, you are healed."  Faith is the belief in the things that are not seen, but for Jesus, faith seems to be the element necessary for healing.

Recently I was spending time with a patient who continued to tell me that she was going to be healed.  In fact, her church was telling her that, "If your faith is strong enough, then God will heal you."

She shared with me, "I'm just on hospice now for help, but God is going to heal me and I will no longer need you."

I believe in miracles.  I have no doubt that I have seen and experienced miracles in my own life, but I must admit, there is a bit of doubt that enters my mind when I encounter people who tell me that their faith will restore them, when my knowledge of the situation overrules the trust that the person has placed in God.

It is something that we all struggle with.  "If you only had the faith of a mustard seed, you could literally move a mountain."  (Luke 17)

First and foremost, faith doesn't come in varying sizes.  I could just imagine the dose of faith necessary for the dying woman to possess in order to be healed.  Even in the ministry of Jesus, there is one point when the paralyzed man is lowered through the roof to be healed, Jesus looks at the men on the roof who lowered the man and says, "Because of the faith of your friends, take up your mat and walk." (Luke 5)

It is in that moment that I realize that my faith in her ability to be healed is just as important as the woman's.  The importance of our faith is reflective in this story.  While I believe that God can restore, my human condition and my knowledge, causes the faith of the child that I am called to exercise is overwhelmed by what I have been taught.

So often Jesus reminds us that unless we become like children, we will struggle to enter the kingdom of heaven, if at all.  That within itself is another issue entirely.

But for today, I am reminded that I am to have faith.  Have faith in God, and to have faith in the things that I cannot understand or explain.  Maybe then, it will become easier to experience healing and in the healing of others.

Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2019