Exercising trust

"I know God can heal me but it's really hard to have faith that He will when I know that He might not."

The life struggle of my hospitalized son. His life is not in danger, but his body, for the moment, has stopped behaving like it's supposed to. And so after three days in bed (a pittance by the measures many have endured), the natural frustrations bubble to the surface. He's not sick enough for drastic measures. He's not well enough to go home.

Between IV's and NG-tubes, x-rays and ill-sleep, his soul bubbles with theological anxiety. "Do I ask for healing or do I rest content in His will?" Wow.

• Godliness with contentment is great gain... And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. - 1 Timothy 6:6, 8
  
• I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content - Philippians 4:11
• Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5

On the flip side of that, it seems that most of the healings in the Gospels took place upon those who besought it. Jairus for his daughter, the centurion for his servant, Mary & Martha for Lazarus, blind Bartimaeus, and the ten lepers to scratch just the surface. Now if it were only these, we might simply dismiss them as discontents, folks unwilling to abide the cards that God had dealt, but Christ Himself while on the earth and God Himself in the word pleads with us to ask.

• Give us this day... - Matthew 6:11
• Ask! - Matthew 7:7-12, John 16:19-26, Ephesians 3:20, James 1:5-6, 4:3
  
• Cast your anxiety upon him because he cares for you - 1 Peter 5:7
• Make your requests known unto God - Philippians 4:6-7

And so abide these together. God calls us to trust Him completely. He is God; we are not. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9) and much that He does is beyond knowing (Job, Deuteronomy 29:29).

At the same time, He calls us to ask, to ask the One who is the Provider. The world is broken. Blindness is not normal. Deafness is not normal. Paralysis is not normal. Cancer is not normal. Name the malady...it...is...not...NORMAL! Our loving God calls to those who will hear His voice to come to Him out of the abnormality. He loves us. One day, He (only He) will restore all things. And only He has the power to restore things in the middle of the fallenness. Even though He might not, we know that amidst the fallenness, His good, glorious, and gracious work continues to the completion of all things.

So we ask knowing that He can heal and knowing that He might not. And we trust Almighty God for whatever outcome He deems best.