17 August 2010 Devotion for Today "Does God Still Heal?" Acts 5:12-16

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

9:46 AM

^{12The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. 13No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by evil spirits, and all of them were healed. (Acts 5:12-16)}

 
 

 
 

In May, 1987 I was ushered the ICU ward where my father lay critically ill with what we had been told was acute pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. We were told he would not live long, and I scarcely recognized his severely jaundiced body which was tethered to all kinds of tubes and monitors. The day before the doctors there at the Oakland Naval Medical Center told my mother to put their affairs in order, and that they could do surgery to isolate the tumor and hope to make him more comfortable, but not to expect much. I trembled as my reached down to embrace my dad. It had been a long flight from the east coast and I was exhausted. As I kneeled beside his bed, instinctively I prayed. I don't remember the exact words I prayed, only that God would make my dad well again. It was not a long prayer, nor did I even think to anoint him with oil as I did it. There were no overly exaggerated incantations of the name of Jesus; in fact the emotion inside of me could barely get those feeble words out. I just prayed.

 
 

Later my mother's sister and her husband, both strong Christians, arrived to join us in the vigil at the hospital. The doctors came in the next day to the waiting area where we sat hoping we would hear better news. The doctor said, "Well, I've got good news and some not-so-good news. The good news is, we cannot seem to locate the tumor- only severely impacted gall stones around the site in the pancreas where we believed the tumor to be. I can't explain what happened- all I know is, the mass is gone. But the bad news is that we already performed the Whipple procedure and that is irreversible. Had we known the results of the tests before hand we would not have performed this surgery which will take some time to heal. But we believed time was crucial- I hope you will understand."

 
 

Hearing this surgeon's words caused us to leap for joy. We were told not to expect too much, since my dad was a very sick man. But what I heard that day was hope. To this day I don't believe the doctor made a mistake. God healed him, two months after his fiftieth birthday. There was no question in my mind- God had allowed him to live another 18 years to see the births of 6 of his 8 grandchildren.

 
 

A question I have heard considered is, "Does God heal today?" In Acts 5 we read of the apostles Peter and John preaching in the Temple where a large number of people heard them. They also brought the sick and demon possessed with the expectation that they would be healed. This passage says that all of them were healed. Should we have the same expectation today? I've had several theologians tell me that what was manifested in the New Testament was limited to the apostles. Their gifts, we were told, died out when they did. The proof text of I Corinthians 13:8 "But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away," is often invoked for such moments, but even so the text says nothing about healing passing away. To say that God no longer demonstrates His power to do what He will is to deny the existence of a sovereign God. It is true that I have witnessed some ridiculous extremes, and even some spiritual quacks who do more to repudiate the power of God than they promote it. It is also true that even though we may pray for someone's healing, not all of them get well. This has nothing to do with the strength or the lack of strength of the believer who prayed or the quality of faith the patient may or may not have had. Even so, we are commanded to pray to the end that God receives the glory for everything that happens. Countless times since then I have heard doctors say that they did not know what happened, that the patient was not expected to recover and did anyway and that "someone must have been praying!" Many times those same doctors are not prepared to hear, but I want to scream out in times like those: "I know what happened! God did a miracle. He still heals today, and don't ever forget it!"

 
 

Have a blessed day!