Trusting God's Plan in Healing and Suffering
Summary
### Summary
Good morning, everyone. Today, we gathered to worship and reflect on the profound topic of healing, a subject that often brings both hope and confusion. We began by acknowledging the global reach of our community and the shared mission of the Church to spread the gospel. We prayed for our local churches and for a passion for truth and the gospel to be ignited within them.
I shared a personal story about my grandfather, a dedicated pastor who suffered greatly from cancer despite fervent prayers for his healing. This led us to confront a challenging question: Why does God sometimes not heal, even when we believe He can? We explored the biblical basis for healing, noting that Jesus performed numerous healings and even promised that His followers would do greater works. Yet, in our experience, miracles often seem rare.
We discussed various responses to unanswered prayers for healing, including doubt in God's goodness or existence, and the harmful notion that a lack of healing is due to insufficient faith. We examined scriptural examples where healing did not occur, such as Paul's thorn in the flesh and his advice to Timothy to drink wine for his frequent illnesses. These examples remind us that even the most faithful servants of God sometimes endure suffering.
We acknowledged that healing can occur in different forms: now, later, or in eternity. Sometimes, God's plan involves allowing suffering for a greater purpose, as seen in Jesus' willingness to endure the cross. We also considered that sometimes the healing needed is not physical but emotional or spiritual, as illustrated by the story of the paralytic whose sins Jesus forgave before healing his body.
Ultimately, we are called to trust in God's perfect goodness and plan, even in the midst of suffering. We must continue to pray for healing with faith, recognizing that God's ways are higher than ours and that true healing is found in the salvation of our souls. Our hope lies in the promise of new bodies and eternal life with God.
### Key Takeaways
1. Healing in Different Forms: Healing can manifest now, later, or in eternity. While we often desire immediate healing, sometimes God's plan involves a longer timeline or even healing in the afterlife. This perspective helps us trust in God's perfect timing and plan. [45:41]
2. Biblical Examples of Unhealed Saints: Even faithful servants like Paul and Timothy experienced ongoing ailments. Paul's thorn in the flesh and Timothy's frequent illnesses remind us that suffering can coexist with strong faith and divine purpose. [47:19]
3. The Role of Faith and Prayer: While faith and persistent prayer are crucial, they do not guarantee immediate healing. Our prayers should be filled with faith, but we must also trust in God's greater plan, knowing that He may have reasons beyond our understanding. [50:11]
4. Emotional and Spiritual Healing: Sometimes, the healing we need is not physical but emotional or spiritual. Jesus often addressed the heart first, as seen in the story of the paralytic whose sins were forgiven before his body was healed. This teaches us to seek holistic healing. [01:03:34]
5. Trusting in God's Plan Amidst Suffering: We are called to trust in God's perfect goodness and plan, even when we face suffering. Our faith is tested and strengthened through trials, leading us to a deeper reliance on God's grace and a greater understanding of His eternal purposes. [01:05:25]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[17:31] - Prayer for Local Churches
[36:46] - Personal Story of Suffering
[38:25] - The Challenge of Unanswered Prayers
[39:40] - Biblical Basis for Healing
[41:12] - Miracles in Modern Times
[42:37] - Different Responses to Unanswered Prayers
[44:14] - Prayer for Understanding
[45:41] - Healing Now, Later, or in Eternity
[47:19] - Biblical Examples of Unhealed Saints
[48:39] - Paul's Thorn in the Flesh
[50:11] - The Role of Faith and Prayer
[51:47] - The Importance of Persistent Prayer
[53:07] - God's Plan and Our Suffering
[54:52] - Jesus' Response to Demands for Miracles
[56:23] - Trusting in God's Greater Plan
[57:45] - Emotional and Spiritual Healing
[01:03:34] - The Paralytic's Story
[01:05:25] - Trusting God Amidst Suffering
[01:06:48] - The Ultimate Healing: Salvation
[01:10:03] - Praying for Healing with Faith
[01:11:43] - Understanding God's Greater Plan
[01:13:06] - Action Step: Hold On
[01:14:14] - Closing Prayer and Invitation
[01:18:54] - Next Week's Topic: Singleness and Infertility
Study Guide
### Bible Reading
1. 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NIV): "To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2. 1 Timothy 5:23 (NIV): "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses."
3. Mark 2:1-12 (NIV): The story of the paralytic whose sins Jesus forgave before healing his body.
### Observation Questions
1. What was Paul's "thorn in the flesh," and how did he respond to it according to 2 Corinthians 12:7-10?
2. In 1 Timothy 5:23, what advice does Paul give to Timothy regarding his frequent illnesses?
3. How did Jesus address the paralytic's needs in Mark 2:1-12, and what was the reaction of the religious leaders? [01:01:49]
### Interpretation Questions
1. Why might God allow someone to endure suffering, as seen in Paul's experience with his "thorn in the flesh"? [48:39]
2. How does Paul's advice to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5:23 reflect a practical approach to dealing with illness, and what does it suggest about the nature of healing?
3. What does the story of the paralytic in Mark 2:1-12 teach us about the different forms of healing that Jesus offers? [01:03:34]
### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you or someone you know prayed for healing but did not receive it. How did that experience affect your faith, and how can you find peace in God's greater plan? [38:25]
2. How can you balance persistent prayer for healing with trust in God's will, even when immediate healing does not occur? [50:11]
3. In what ways can you seek emotional or spiritual healing in your life, similar to how Jesus addressed the paralytic's heart before his physical condition? [01:03:34]
4. How can you support someone in your community who is struggling with unanswered prayers for healing, without making them feel like their faith is insufficient? [42:37]
5. What steps can you take to deepen your trust in God's perfect goodness and plan, especially during times of suffering? [01:05:25]
6. Identify a specific area in your life where you need to "hold on" and have faith, hope, and an eternal perspective. How can you practically apply this mindset in your daily routine? [01:13:06]
7. How can you cultivate a holistic approach to healing in your life, addressing not just physical needs but also emotional and spiritual well-being? [57:45]
Devotional
Day 1: Trusting God's Timing in Healing
Healing can manifest now, later, or in eternity. While we often desire immediate healing, sometimes God's plan involves a longer timeline or even healing in the afterlife. This perspective helps us trust in God's perfect timing and plan. We must remember that God's ways are higher than ours, and His understanding surpasses our own. This trust in His timing can bring peace and patience as we wait for His perfect will to unfold in our lives. [45:41]
Isaiah 55:8-9 (ESV): "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Reflection: Think of a situation where you are waiting for God's intervention. How can you practice trusting His timing and plan today?
Day 2: Faithful Suffering
Even faithful servants like Paul and Timothy experienced ongoing ailments. Paul's thorn in the flesh and Timothy's frequent illnesses remind us that suffering can coexist with strong faith and divine purpose. These examples show that suffering is not necessarily a sign of weak faith or divine disfavor. Instead, it can be a part of God's greater plan to shape us and fulfill His purposes through us. [47:19]
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (ESV): "So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"
Reflection: Reflect on a time when you faced suffering despite your faith. How did you see God's grace and strength in that situation?
Day 3: The Role of Faith and Prayer
While faith and persistent prayer are crucial, they do not guarantee immediate healing. Our prayers should be filled with faith, but we must also trust in God's greater plan, knowing that He may have reasons beyond our understanding. This balance of faith and trust is essential in our spiritual journey, as it helps us remain hopeful and reliant on God's wisdom and love. [50:11]
James 5:15-16 (ESV): "And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working."
Reflection: Consider a prayer request you have been bringing to God. How can you balance persistent prayer with trust in His greater plan?
Day 4: Holistic Healing
Sometimes, the healing we need is not physical but emotional or spiritual. Jesus often addressed the heart first, as seen in the story of the paralytic whose sins were forgiven before his body was healed. This teaches us to seek holistic healing, recognizing that our deepest needs may be spiritual or emotional rather than physical. [01:03:34]
Psalm 147:3 (ESV): "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
Reflection: Identify an area in your life where you need emotional or spiritual healing. How can you invite Jesus into that area today?
Day 5: Trusting God Amidst Suffering
We are called to trust in God's perfect goodness and plan, even when we face suffering. Our faith is tested and strengthened through trials, leading us to a deeper reliance on God's grace and a greater understanding of His eternal purposes. This trust in God's goodness, even in the midst of suffering, is a powerful testimony of faith and hope. [01:05:25]
1 Peter 1:6-7 (ESV): "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
Reflection: Think about a current trial you are facing. How can you deepen your trust in God's goodness and plan through this experience?
Quotes
1. "When you see someone like that, you're like, they're dedicated to the Lord. They believe in him. They believe in his healing power. They're praying. Others are praying for them. And why are they dying in such a brutal and painful way? Where's the healing? Because hey, if there's one thing that we Pentecostals do really well, it's we talk about healing." [38:25] (60 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "Healings and miracles seem to be the exception in our experience, not the rule. And so how do we, how do we reconcile that? I mean, I'm someone I've seen, I've seen a leg extend in front of me. As we've prayed, I've seen someone hobbling towards our group on a cane and we've prayed for him. And next thing you know, he's got the cane above his head and he's running around the town square." [41:12] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Sometimes when you know, God can, it's hard to understand why he doesn't. Let me say that again. Sometimes when you know, God can, it's hard to understand why he doesn't. And so that's why the topic of healing is in this message series that we're in, where we're talking about some stigmas in the church, the stigma in our church today. In charismatic churches is not healing. It's what happens when there isn't healing." [44:14] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "The thing that I think is really important for us to understand right off the jump. Okay. Is that Jesus is the great healer, but healing can happen now, later or an eternity. Okay. A lot of us, what do we want? We want now, can tolerate later if later's tomorrow, but what happens when that healing is in eternity?" [45:41] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "Did you know that sometimes when you don't receive the healing you're looking for, it is an opportunity to press into your faith anyway, so that the grace of God can be sufficient for you. And so that his power can be made perfect in weakness. I think we do need to look at some reasons briefly why God might not heal." [50:11] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
6. "Sometimes God doesn't heal us because we don't ask or, you know, we, we, we ask, but it's kind of like a, yeah, you know, and this is where that faith might come into play. Cause some of us, what do we do? We come before God and we pray and we don't actually believe he's going to heal us. Right? We're double-minded. Like James says, we have doubt that he's actually going to do, or maybe even can do." [51:47] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
7. "Sometimes God won't heal because it would interfere with his plan. Did you know that sometimes God's plan is to allow the brokenness that sin has brought into the world for his purposes? And that's a, that's a hard word. That's a hard word. And Jesus had to confront that, right? Jesus, he's, he's getting arrested by the mob in the, the garden of Gethsemane." [53:07] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
8. "Sometimes things happen the way that we don't quite expect them to happen, right? The Bible tells us there's, there's these guys and they're friends with a guy that can't, can't walk, right? They hear that Jesus came into town. So they pick up their friend on a mat and they're, they're, they're running him towards the crowd and they get towards the door and the lineup is just down the street." [01:00:27] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
9. "Can you trust in God's perfect goodness and plan in the midst of suffering? Can you do that? Man, it's hard sometimes. It is so hard. Sometimes all I want to do is stick my head against the pillow and scream because things are so frustrating and so, so hard and so exhausting, right? Have you been there? The broken hardness, the feeling that I just, I don't know if I can keep doing this." [01:05:25] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
10. "We need to pray for healing. We need to pray faith-filled prayers, because when we stop praying, amazing miracles stop happening. Or if they do happen, we don't recognize them, right? We start saying, oh, that was a nice coincidence. There's no coincidences. But in our prayers of faith, we also need to stop tearing people down and playing the blame game." [01:10:03] (28 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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