Yes God Heals But

I remember the first time my son was old enough to read mail by himself, young enough to believe what he read. He came to me in wide-eyed wonder. “Mom, we may have won a million dollars!”

I quickly and efficiently squelched his joy. “It doesn’t really mean that – they send those to everyone. Somebody somewhere might get a million dollars, but most likely it won’t be us.” Careful to protect my child from hopes that could only disappoint, in no time at all I turned him into a cynic greater than myself.

Whenever the topic of healing comes up, I hear one of several different “Yes God heals but . . .” statements. If you’ve said one to me, please don’t feel I’m picking on you. I’ve heard it before, many times. Almost verbatim, across time and space and denominational lines.

I’ve come to realize that the topic of healing consistently makes many people nervous, cautious, concerned. Maybe you feel like it’s a lottery you won’t win, and you truly want to protect both yourself and those you love from disappointed hopes. No one could blame you. You’ve been hurt so many times.

What if, while you wait in line to buy a lottery ticket, someone walks up to you and says, “Do you want to win?” What if the person who asks you this question turns out to be a multi-billionaire, but you don’t know that yet. Would you say, “Yes, but . . .” ?

You wouldn’t be the first.

We have a little saying around our house, “It could happen!”

It’s a line from Angels in the Outfield. Two little boys hang onto faith in the face of raw skepticism and a world troubled by shattered dreams. “It could happen,” says one. And it does.

What if, every time the topic of healing comes up, instead of saying, “Yes, but . . .” instead we all made a conscious decision to say, “It could happen!”

Or better yet, “Let it happen to me as You have said.”

You want to do impossible things in my body, God? I don’t understand, but I’m all for it. I’ll take your word for it, even above my own skeptical logic and yesterday’s broken heart.

After all, God says hope does not disappoint.

Nowadays, in my home, I’m working on restoring some of that sense of wonder and possibility I unwittingly damaged in my son. I want that to be the lens through which he views life.