She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better, she grew worse. Mark 5:26
Do you put God in a box? A box that you try to control?
Read Psalm 103:1-5. What benefits of god are listed in these five verses? God forgives us of our iniquities, heals all our diseases, redeems our life from destruction, crowns us with lovingkindness and tender mercies, and satisfies our mouth with good things.
God is neither a genie in a bottle or an apathetic bystander. We need to let God be God. When we totally surrender to God, we then can see what God can really do.
Let’s look at the word heal or health. Hebrew Strong’s number 7495 is translated to Rapha or raphah. This is the word used in Psalm 103:3. It means to heal, make healthful, healing of God, and hurt nations involving restored favor. We are broken people in a broken world. God wants to mend us by bringing wholeness and restoration to life as someone would mend by stitching. One cannot mend fabric without being able to hold the fabric in their hands. God holds us in his hands as he mends our broken parts back together, forming a new and far more beautiful garment.
Read James 5:14-18. Let’s look at the words save and sick. Save comes from the Hebrew word Sozo. It means saving, keeping safe and sound, rescuing from danger or destruction, and saving a suffering one. Now let’s look at the word sick. It comes from the Hebrew word kamno. It means to grow weary, be weary, to be sick. What insights do you see from these words?
Look at James 5:17. What point was James trying to make when he used Elijah as an example? He is making Elijah pray earnestly that it would not rain, and it didn’t rain for three years and six months. Elijah was a man just like us. He also suffered. He also needed healing or restoration to be mended. Prayer works. God works. We need to trust God’s ways and plans.
We tend to make biblical figures more than being human. However, they weren’t. They were human, just like you and me. We can also be like them. We can let them be role models to us on how to deepen our walk of faith in God.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you that we can come to you in prayer. Thank you that we can request to you. I pray that we will trust in your ways.
In Jesus Name
Amen
