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Scenario #1: I was speaking with a young girl who leaves tomorrow to spend the remainder of her year in Mozambique, Africa. Sharing her greatest fear, she expressed that of contracting Malaria. When I told her I'd had it myself, and clearly survived, tears of relief streamed down her face. I explained though, that as soon as my symptoms took hold, I'd gotten myself to a nearby clinic. A neighbor diagnosed that same summer, however, chose a different route of believing God as the perfect Healer and refusing the clinic. She died within 48-hours. Scenario #2: A couple I'm close with has been wrestling through whether or not to vaccinate their son. They've finally decided to go through with it, realizing if something were to ever happen to him that could've been prevented, they'd forever blame themselves. Scenario #3: The BBC ran an article yesterday* about a man in Wisconsin convicted of second-degree reckless homicide and facing up to twenty-five years in prison for not taking his (undiagnosed diabetic) daughter to the hospital when she was severely ill. "If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God," he said. "I am not believing what he said he would do." The prosecution argued that the man had minimized his daughter's illness and allowed her to die as a selfish act of faith. Jesus clearly had a keen knowledge and respect for the role of doctors. After all, he's the one who said, "It's not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick."* And at the same time, he is forthright about being the sole healer. Where does that leave medical intervention, and so-called preservations of life? As I understand it, God became human and brought divine skin to earth. And in doing so, grafted a way for humans to partake in divine skin. And though our lives remain destined toward a death, death is no longer our end point, having been swallowed up in victory and no longer holding its sting*. So, yes, we are embodiments of a divine flesh, but yes, we're still of human flesh, too. Where is the balance? What is meant by Thy will be done*? And how does one know when to draw the line? *http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/americas/8180116.stm *Matthew 9.12, Mark 2.17, Luke 5.31 *The words of Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:55-56 *Matthew 6:10 |
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Comments
Thoughtful email I received regarding this post:
Particularly with this article, I was torn in terms of my thoughts. On one hand, I didn't want to condemn this couple, because I do believe that prayer heals, that God can perform miracles, that "by his stripes, we were healed." At the same time, though, I also believe that God has blessed his followers in the healthcare field or whatever field to be a link to all of that as well. I don't think He would call us to follow certain roles if he didn't want his presence and his power of healing in other capacities. And especially when you're making a bold statement as to say "God said he would heal her," then you really have to be walking with God and know that you hear him. Some people try to use statements like this almost out of mysticism. I do know that God also leads us to talk to certain people, receive help from certain people, and hear his voice in who we should and should not interact with. Even for myself, in the health field, and finding that my calling, I don't always like to go to the doctor. I like to keep it natural, and I like to believe that my heavenly Father is the ultimate doctor. However, again, I also think his powers and glory is presented through how he equips us here on Earth. And even as a doctor or healthcare professional, you have to hear his voice.
You can even think of it in this way.... I know God will provide my needs, I know he is my shepherd and I shall not want. However, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to work, to make money, merely because I believe God will give me money. He says that faith without works is dead. So sometimes we have to apply that, in every situation. Again, not to say God does not supply our needs, because I think to Elisha, and how food was prepared for him. BUT, Elisha did not merely sit on the ground and pray that food would spring up from the ground. Big point, God supplied that, because he was a man that walked with him, that heard his voice, AND was doing a work for our Lord.
So in all that, the only thing I can do for this couple, for those wavering on their faith, and even those believers who aren't sure what to think of this, well is to pray that God uses it for his glory. That he makes this a testimony. Regardless of if this man heard from God or not, I know that God can turn it for His good. And more importantly, praying that Christians especially learn to hear his voice, and stand confident in His word, and be sensitive. If he is saying go to the doctor, then go, pray that that person will hear God's voice, and look at it as if God himself is touching you and healing you.
I'm glad you mentioned Elisha (Elijah?) and the miraculous provision of food. When my patients tell me that they want to wait for God to heal them instead of having surgery for cancer, I sometimes ask them if they are going to the store for groceries or sitting and waiting for God to send ravens carrying food to them like He did with Elijah, Elisha's predecessor. To tell the truth, I don't think anyone has ever found this argument convincing. Then I wind up praying with them for a miracle, desperately beseeching God for something that He usually does not do.
I come from a point of view that acknowledges that physicians (as you may have intuited by now, I am one) do not heal people. Only God does. As the "father of modern surgery" Ambrose Pare is credited for saying, "I dress the wound, but God heals it." But there is no scripture that tells us not to go to doctors. As you pointed out, Jesus' comment has a positive implication regarding physicians.
Despite the lack of effectiveness of my argument with my patients, I believe it is quite valid. It does not make any more sense to avoid medical attention than it does to avoid the grocery store. God heals. God feeds. Jesus healed. Jesus fed thousands. One of Jesus' last earthly acts was to provide breakfast for his disciples on the shores of Galilee.
I believe that I have seen miraculous healings and even in one case someone raised back to life as a result of fervent prayer, but I have also seen my patients die from metastatic cancer after they refused timely treatment because they felt that to accept medical care would be a betrayal of their trust in God.
doc
Hi, Abbie! Thanks for the heads up!
What binds these three scenarios together for me is the question of faith.
As I understand it, faith is very much a verb. I do not simply have faith, nor do I wait for faith to descend upon me. Each moment of each day is an opportunity to demonstrate my faith, regardless of the outcome. I have heard of faith described simply as "Acting without knowing".
Indeed, each moment, each infinite "now" in which we live is all we have. For me, to live in God's will is to demonstrate certain spiritual principals, as needed, in service of everyone I meet, regardless of the outcome. Some of these principles are Honesty, Hope, Faith, Courage, Integrity, Willingness, Humility, Love, Perseverance, Self Discipline, Spirituality, Service, Forgiveness, Patience, Tolerance... there many more.
If I am not sure what to do, than I pray and meditate and wait until I have better information or advice. (It's always good to have lots of people around who are smarter than me (just about everyone) to give good council).
Again, the Faith part in this is to act without knowing. The fact is, I will never know for sure what the future holds, and any out come I can imagine is, well, imaginary, and therefore has absolutely no validity. My imagination, my "projector", serves only to create either fear and anxiety, or a false sense of well being.
This is what seems to have happened to the first two folks, as fear and anxiety (What will happen to me in the future?) ruled their lives, and the third man, tragically, as he arrogantly presumed that he knew God's plan (I know what will happen in the future!) for his daughter.
Notice those words; God's plan. What, in God's name, can I or anyone else deduce about God's plan??!! I can't decide what I'm having for dinner! And yet I can spend a good deal of time worrying about what God has in store for me two years from now, ten years from now, or even next week! No one in the history of the world has ever imagined to a certainty what was going to happen in their future. God only knows. And I’m pretty sure that’s where that last phrase came from! Cool!
I am only granted now. I act in Faith and do God's will (Spiritual principles) to the best of my ability, however imperfectly. And God's plan, the future, unfolds exactly as it's supposed to, astonishingly without my help.
And the gifts I receive now, that I can only receive in the now, are fabulous! Humility, Love, Forgiveness, Grace Understanding, and Serenity- All these and more are available to me when I live now, what I understand to be in the “Sunlight of the Spirit”. And they are utterly inaccessible to me when I spend time worrying about the future or regretting the past. Where's the faith in that?
Peace.
Tim Hansen
Profound thoughts, Doc and Tim. Thanks so much for sharing your perspectives. Lots to chew on here, eh?