Fire On Your Head

This entry might be well placed in the “classic objections to divine healing” category of my blog. I mean no disrespect to those who suggest, that somehow, in God’s sovereignty, He does things and we don’t know why–and people not getting healed, is in that ‘category’ of God’s character. It is a whole framework of thinking that DOES rightly attribute mysteries to the sovereignty of God’s handiwork, and that He is not obligated to explain Himself to us puny little flesh creatures.

Deuteronomy 29:29, which objectors may or may not realize they’re quoting from, says
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.“

It IS true, that the secret things belong to the Lord, and if He has chosen not to reveal certain things to us, that’s His prerogative. But, does this include divine healing?

Of course not–the “secret things” would include things that God has kept secret, and He has shared abundantly in His Word and by the atonement of Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. God doesn’t have some secret Calvinistic ‘will’ either–where you don’t know if He will give you something or not. If He has explicitly promised to give something to His children in The Bible, then doing what He stated as a pre-requisite to receiving it, is necessary in order to receive said promise.

If you’ve never visited this blog before, then you probably don’t know that I’ve been all over the topic of divine healing like a fat kid on a candy bar. So I encourage you for more (way more) study on the subject, to click on the ‘healing’ tag and you will see a plethora of other entries. I’m going to continue this as though the idea God does will all to be healed physically, emotionally, mentally, etc.., is already settled in your mind.

If He has made His will known, then it clearly does NOT apply to the secret things God is talking about in this verse. What secret things is He referring to? We’ll never know–they’re secret and belong to Him!

But, like any good restaurant owner or manager will tell you as being the secret to their success is, the same applies to Scripture – location, location, location. God HAS revealed to us His will concerning healing, in the Bible.

We have Scripture where it details the time the disciples attempted to heal a boy with epilepsy, but to no avail. For more on that I recommend checking it out here. The disciples had previously gone out two-by-two to proclaim and demonstrate the kingdom of God, and now this occasion with this one little boy they were unable to do it. If they had given up there, they never would have seen the healing take place at all, because ultimately Jesus came along and healed the boy Himself.

I think most Christians stop here, sadly.

If the disciples didn’t get Jesus Himself to step in, the healing would have never come, but yet most Christians don’t have the tenacity to go for it even after the first prayer didn’t yield a noticeable result. If you’re like most well-taught evangelicals–or most badly taught charismatics–you’d conclude it must “not be God’s will to heal this time”. But such an approach usually leaves one bitter and wondering how come others have obtained it and not themselves. Such seeming arbitrariness on God’s part would make those who don’t see the healing take place wonder if God is showing favorites and leaving them short. He is not.

Healing is for all. Including you and yours.

In Matthew 17:14-21, we have the account I just mentioned, where Jesus went ahead and performed a healing the disciples were unable to obtain themselves. Then privately they went and asked Jesus why it didn’t work. Now in order for them to ask Him why something didn’t happen, they had to have been expecting it to. And on top of that, if they KNEW why it didn’t work, they wouldn’t have asked Jesus why the healing never manifested! He told them the answer: their lack of faith.

I know that it’s not politically correct to say it or teach it, and I’ve even been told it’s cruel to tell someone they need more faith in order to be healed. I don’t usually tell someone they need more faith unless I give them tips and pointers concerning HOW to have more faith. But seriously folks, we need to get over this “God-does-all-the-work-and-I-just-sit-back-and-let-him-hit-me-with- a-magic-wand-and-take-no-initiative-of-my-own” Yes, God DOES do all the work–on the cross at Calvary 2000 years ago, but we need to position ourselves to receive. Sinners don’t receive the gift of salvation JUST because it’s been offered–they need to receive it [meet the requirements that are pre-requisite, like believing with their heart and confessing with their mouth (Romans 10:9-10) and leaving their old life behind].

And as for the idea it’s cruel to teach someone they need more faith– no it isn’t. But it IS cruel to blame them for not being healed. Those are two different things. Blaming them still withholds from them that which they’re seeking, but telling them something that helps them receive, is a great benefit to people if they do grab hold of it.

I think an even crueler thing is some of the evangelical “God chooses to heal some but not others” doctrines out there. When you tell someone it might be God’s will to heal them, what you’ve done is given them no hope or faith at all that it will or is even likely happen, because most people say to themselves “then I’m probably not one whom God wants to heal.” In order for that doctrine to be true, one then needs to operate in special revelation so as to know when and who God wants to heal!

If the disciples knew their unbelief was in the way of healing the epileptic boy, they would have not needed to ask Jesus about the situation. They would have fixed the problem insomuch as it depended on them.

And finally I’d like to conclude by looking at the context of Deuteronomy 29:29, which is judgment. This is one of the last addresses Moses gave the people of Israel before they were going to enter their promised land after forty years of wandering in the wilderness. The title for this chapter that the Bible translation I read says “The covenant renewed in Moab.” Moses goes on to remind them where they’ve come from and where the Lord promised them they’re going IF they obey the word of the law. Almost more than half of the chapter goes into great detail about what judgment God will bring upon the people of Israel if they turn away from Him, and concludes with the verse we’re using for this entry, that the secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed (which, according to context, is the law) to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (emphasis mine).

So frankly put, God’s not withholding anything from His children that would be for their benefit and making Himself a secretive insecure God. This stuff He withholds from us, the secret things, are not related to blessings/curses and rewards/punishment, but refers to details He’s deemed worth not making clear to all of us. To repeat what I’ve said already, healing and whether it’s God’s will to heal any is NOT some secret thing He’s kept from us.

If He will do it for one, He’ll do it for all—he’s not a respecter of persons and doesn’t play favorites.