Seek The Lord First When Ill, Then Seek Treatment
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(35) As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. (38) He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (40) Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, (41) “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” the blind man replied. (42) Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has healed you.”’ (Luke 18:35, 38, 40-42)
All of us get sick at some point in our lives, and on (hopefully) rare occasions we may find ourselves so sick that we end up in bed with a fever, chills, and aches all over. Our reaction to this is typically either taking over-the-counter medications or go to one of the local walk-in clinics to be examined and then retrieve whatever prescription medications are written up by the doctor, and take them until we feel well enough to get moving again. But is this really the first thing we should do, or think of doing first when we are suffering from such a malady?
It’s never fun to be sick, and so we celebrate modern medicine, the skills and innovations that are brought to save lives, and we should certainly be appreciative of those who toil in the medical profession in advancing these breakthroughs. However, all these breakthroughs have been done through God and His purposes. All in some form or fashion are the result of prayers; crying out to the Lord for healing and relief. This is what we see with this blind beggar in Luke 18; he likely had never followed Jesus, although he probably heard of Him and His miracles. The beggar probably didn’t hold out too much hope that he would ever encounter Jesus or be healed, until this day when Jesus began to walk past him.
Like those who start to pray when faced with adversity, there is usually desperation; nothing else could ever restore his sight, and so he had to try to get Jesus to stop, and after calling out to Jesus, Jesus responded. The faith of the beggar was not in the fact that he believed Jesus could heal him, he had Faith that Jesus was who He said He was, the Messiah, as evidenced by referring to Him as the Son of David. The little bit of Faith the beggar had, with the odds against him that He would encounter Jesus one-on-one, was realized, and Jesus answered his prayer.
Never discount the power of prayer – pray first and foremost! When you or a loved one is ill, pray first, then seek medical treatment and take medicine as prescribed but continue to pray! Pray when things are good, and pray when things are not so good. God is a 24/7 God, and doesn’t just work when the sun’s out but is there regardless of the circumstance. Even when feeling like yesterday’s garbage, God is there for us. Thank the Lord for being there to guide us through these times when we are ill and praise Him for being there until the healing is complete. Soon the illness is in the rear view and soon forgotten, and that is a good sign from the Lord that He has put all things in proper perspective for our benefit.
We must always have the Faith that Jesus answers prayer. This does not mean our prayers will always be answered to our liking or affirming a choice that is not Christian in nature, but Jesus answers prayer. Jesus wants us to be like this beggar, to have the Faith to tell Jesus what we want Jesus to do for us. The beggar told Jesus he wanted to see; we can ask the Lord to heal us and remove our illnesses. We have to be Faithful to trust Jesus in what it is we what for Him to accomplish in our lives and we have to be Faithful to accept the answer He gives, and how He decides to best answer it.
