July 17, 2024

Mark 5:22-24

²² And behold, one of the rulers of the synagogue came, Jairus by name. And when he saw Him, he fell at His feet ²³ and begged Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter lies at the point of death. Come and lay Your hands on her, that she may be healed, and she will live.” ²⁴ So Jesus went with him, and a great multitude followed Him and thronged Him.

When I was part of a denomination, one of the things that was stolen from me was my access to healing. It wasn’t that the denomination didn’t believe that healing was possible. Rather, they just weren’t sure it was always God’s will to heal, and so, in a practical way, we had no clear direction for accessing it.

Now there were occasional times where someone actually received a divine healing. But this seemed to me to be random and unpredictable. I interpreted what I was seeing as it must have been God’s will this time. And if someone didn’t get healed, then it just wasn’t God’s will that time.

But why was it God’s will to heal sometimes and at other times it wasn’t God’s will? Well I had no good answer for that question, and so I just declared that God’s will was a mystery beyond my understanding.

It didn’t bother me too much that the New Testament declares that we are supposed to know God’s will because it has been revealed in Jesus. It was easy enough to refer back to the Old Testament, where God’s will was still a mystery because Jesus had not yet taken down the veil that separated us.

But Jesus has clearly revealed the will of God. Especially for healing! When this synagogue ruler came to Jesus and requested that He come heal his daughter, who was at the point of death, it is very significant how we see Jesus react to his request.

There is absolutely no hesitation in Jesus’s reaction. He follows the man immediately. He didn’t have to stop and pray about it. He did not bring the situation to the Father first. He didn’t have to fast, or meditate on the Scriptures, or call the elders, or get a prayer chain going.

The synagogue ruler makes the request for Him to come heal his daughter. And Jesus just sets right out to make it happen.

Jesus is our example. We are supposed to imitate Him in everything. And it was clear from His action and response to Jairus that it is just ALWAYS God’s will to heal. There is not an ounce of hesitation here. Jesus did not have to stop and determine God’s will. Why? Because the default of God’s will is to heal!

And God NEVER departs from His default position!

And so my denominational position of not knowing God’s will was self-defeating and the cause of my powerless life. How can I pray in faith if I am doubting that God’s will might not be in agreement with my prayer? And the answer is that I can’t.

Jesus knew it is always God’s will to heal. God’s will is never in doubt and is never the wild card in whether or not we see healing manifested. But until I understand this, I am stuck in a position that is frequently short-circuiting my prayers and access to God’s power.

When I doubt God’s will, I have introduced doubt into the equation of faith. And doubt will cancel the power of faith because it is the opposite of faith. Doubt is just as powerful as faith. But it is a negative power that works against faith.

Jesus did not get there in time to heal that young girl before she died. And yet, her death did not change God’s will for healing. Jesus knew this. He had no doubt of this. And so He raised her from the dead. He knew He was still operating in God’s will for healing.

God’s will for healing is always, “Yes!” This is the first and most important part of our access to healing. And it is the part that was stolen from me until I moved past my denominational understanding of God’s will and simply embraced what the Bible actually says.

Until we understand this, we will never be able to speak with authority over sickness and death. And then, like me, it will always seem like random chance when anyone gets healed.

But there is no random chance with healing. It is always God’s will! But we don’t always believe that and so we remain defeated.