Unresolved Issue, Resolved

It was March 17th, 1998 that Ryan Maurice Smith was born into our family as our second son and third child. He was born in 6 months of the 9 month term which made him a pre-mature baby at 1+ pounds. The road that lied ahead was challenging for him as well as our entire family. It was one challenge after challenge after challenge, yet, he was a fighter and that’s uncommon for pre-mature boys. He had heart surgery, he made it through that. He had water on the brain, it was drying up. He was gaining pounds, a good sign of things getting better.

Until!

I was at work and got a call from Tracy telling me that the hospital called wanting us to come there right away. I gathered my things and went to the hospital. The scene was terrible. Because he was pre-mature, his intestines were under-developed and his entire body was infected as well as shutting down. The doctors explained that they could operate but there was no guarantee that he would make it. Tracy and I told them to operate. The operation took somewhere around 4-6 hours. We waited for good news of his survival. My son was a fighter and with all that he endured I just knew he would make it. The operation was a success. The infection was cleaned out of him. He regained his natural color and body size. We took a deep breathe together and went home to rest.

About a week later things took a drastic turn. His body endured all it could endure and his body started shutting down. We rushed to the hospital only to see my son on life support. I started praying for God to heal my son. Due to our nervous tension, Tracy and I went to the Beverly Center to walk around. When we got back, things weren’t any better but worse. We stayed at the hospital all night taken turns going back and forth to his room to see how he was doing. Saturday morning came and we were hit with a major decision to let him go. We loved (and still do love) our son but we didn’t want to see him go through any pain and suffering. So, as hard as it was, we let him go to be with the Lord.

That was one of the hardest times in my life and even today my family and I struggle with his passing.

I had another struggle with the situation that made me bitter towards God. I’m a child of God, I prayed for God to heal my son and nothing happened. Was God listening? Did God allow this to happen to get back at me? Was my faith strong enough to get a prayer through? Is God’s word true when it says; “Ask and it shall be given”? Why did this happen? He heals others, why not my son?

Is God really a healer?

I had questions with not many answers.

I watch the guys on TV (TBN, the Word Network, BET, etc) and it seems like everybody is getting healed today or are they? Miracles are no longer miracles but a service of performance that people attend with the expectation of receiving healing from sickness, disease, deformities, and/or whatever is wrong with them.

I never wanted to teach on or hear about healing because of my unresolved issues with God about not healing my son until we completed our study of the Epistle of James.

I want to share my understanding of healing based on the Word of God and coupled with my own personal experience. I will answer the question upfront that I struggled with in 1998 and on, “Is God a healer?” My answer: YES, He is! Here’s why; “He healed my unresolved issues with healing.”

Before I was able to say; “God is a healer”, I had to come to a clear understanding of God’s Sovereignty. It took years to understand God’s control of everything. I often times thought God only controlled a few things and the rest was in our control even with sickness. But the truth of the matter is God is actively participating in our lives all the time, good and bad, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, in life and death. I had to come to grips with God’s control of every event in my life. I now understand as well that God doesn’t make any mistakes. He’s perfect in His decision making whether we believe it or not! Understanding the power of God in His Sovereignty and Wisdom is the first step to understanding God’s participation in all of life’s events.

As I share my thoughts of God has a healer I want you to understand that this is not an attack on a person’s ministry, denominational teaching, beliefs, or anything. I want to share my understanding of healing from a biblical perspective with a personal life experience that has shaped my understanding of God as our Healer.

I will use the epistle of James chapter 5:13-20 has my spring board text to understanding healing:

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 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. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

To be continued…