Being Sick

I was sick and you took care of me...
-Matthew 25:36b

Photo: pixabay
I have been sick.  Many people have been sick, much worse off than I have been.  In the real world, we all get sick.

Jesus told his disciples, "Heal the sick", when they went on mission, proclaiming the kingdom of God.  But, he also said that taking care of sick people is part of practical discipleship.  So, we live in the tension of believing in divine healing and practicing it, while also taking care of the unhealed.

A calling card of the disciple of Jesus Christ is kindness.  We love one another and that love is shown through kindness, with compassion.  The same hands that offer a blanket, chicken soup, or help to walk down the hall, also are hands that God uses to heal people.

We pray for healing and take care of the sick among us.  When healing does not manifest through our prayers, we just keep going.  Keeping going means humbly taking care of the sick ones and suffering through the sickness, while taking a stand against it, and praying again.

Perhaps the biggest blunder, for those who pray, is to get bitter towards God or blame the sick person for their lack of healing.  Please do not do that.

I know about healing from God, that is beyond the normal, built in, healing process of our bodies.  We put our hands on the sick person, gently 99.9% of the time, and pray healing.  We don't petition God to heal, but we speak healing to the condition.

Some churches publish prayer lists of folks who are asking for prayers.  What about hands on prayers for healing?  All that I would encourage is to do what is in the New Testament.

In the New Testament we have the laying on of hands, we have Jesus saying, "Heal the sick", we have the enjoinment from Jesus' brother that if, "anyone is sick, call the elders to pray over them and anoint them with oil, in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well", and we have Jesus' command to kindly take care of the sick people.

That is the full spectrum.  And part of being a disciple is being able to say, "I don't know", a lot.  We say, "I don't know", and "I trust God", and "God loves me and you".  These three go together.


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