Miracles, healing and faith

SUMMARY: God has the power to heal all diseases, but miraculous healing doesn't always occur. We should respect God's sovereignty when asking for or expecting a miracle. A physician who returned to the Lord at age 60 was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor. He realized his main concern was not being able to teach his children how a Christian lives. The pastor told him that if a miracle doesn't happen, he can teach his children how a Christian dies. The man lived only a couple of weeks after that conversation, but during that time, he demonstrated the value of faith in facing death with peace and courage. God can also strengthen us during a long and painful treatment and sustain us to await the end with unspeakable hope and peace. For believers in Christ, the end of life is not death, it is the encounter with God.

Can God heal all diseases? Of course yes! However, we all know that the phenomenon of miraculous healing does not always occur. I met a renowned physician who had been a Christian in his youth. When atheism became fashionable in Cuba, he abandoned the faith and withdrew from the church. He lived his best years away from the Lord without teaching his children the faith or even allowing them to attend church . At 60 years of age he returned to the Lord; but a year later a cancerous tumor was discovered in the brain in an advanced stage. His doctors did not have to explain that he had only a few weeks to live. He knew it.

"I know that God can heal me," he told his pastor, "but healing is not my main concern." My pain is that I did not teach my children how a Christian lives and I will not have time to do so.