How many of you are dealing with financial stress? A bunch, I know. And it’s not just the recession. If you think about it, for many of you, it’s been a trend of feast and famine, with the feasts being short lived and not too extraordinary and the famine lasting for years at a time. What I am about to share in the next few blogs is going to be painful. I am going to attempt to straighten our way of thinking on some crucial things and it won’t be easy for most of us.
Perhaps I will only straighten myself out and if successful, it will have been worth it! Let me first give you some background. My wife has had significant, prolonged health issues for too many years. Back injuries, chronic pain and more. She began watching Andrew Womack’s teaching series, “God Wants You Well” and a second DVD, “Healing Journeys”.
One of the testimonies on the Healing Journey’s DVD set was from a young woman named Niki. Niki had become an invalid after a car wreck and couldn’t so much as lift her legs over the side of the bed. She was deteriorating in her health and her prospects were very dim. She listened to one of Andrew’s teachings about God wanting her well and struggled with it because she and her family had prayed for healing many times without effect. On that day however, she says that Jesus came into her room and showed her His back. She says what she saw was more like deep gashes than mere stripes! Then He got in her face, up close and very personal and she saw His visage, how marred it had been. She noticed that one cheek bone was higher than the other. The signs of the brutality done to Him were clear. He was healed up, but scarred.
He then said to her, “Niki… I did this for you”. In an instant she knew that Jesus had already done what He was going to do for her healing and He had done that some 2000 years ago. The truth of 1 Peter 2:24 “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed” came rushing in. That day, Niki the invalid, who had to be carried to the bathroom for her most basic needs, was dramatically healed. She came to believe that the Scripture was true. So the obvious question arises… How do you reconcile the fact that so many good Christian people are not healed? The same could be asked about financial issues… How do we reconcile the Scripture that says, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” when our needs seem not to be met? Watch for my next blog as I begin to share with you the revelation God brought to me through my wife. It may astound you.