I looked up faith healing on the internet. Ten options immediately emerged. Strangely, the website talked a lot about power and positive energy, but did not say anything about Jesus. Are you suspicious of faith healers? I confess that I am. Don’t get me wrong: God still heals. But the faith healers often do not feel authentic to me. They can’t always deliver what they promise. If a person isn’t healed, they may shift the blame to the sick person’s “lack of faith.” What can we learn from Peter’s experience?
Peter, like a good shepherd, visited the Lord’s people in Lydda. For eight years Aeneas had been paralyzed and bedridden. Notice Peter’s words: Jesus heals you. Peter claimed no power of his own. When he spoke healing over Aeneas, it worked. Eight years of agony ended. Aeneas stood up and walked. Luke shows us how Jesus continued to heal through the ministry of the Apostles.
We may also see the result. Peter did not start a healing ministry whereby he would become wealthy. Instead, people who saw Aeneas turned to the Lord. In all our ministries, two principles guide us. God gives all the power. God gets all the praise. In fact, these are good guidelines for our everyday lives. God alone possesses the power to provide what we need. And God alone deserves all the praise. Our goal is to point people to Jesus.
I was taken by the story of Jonathan Roumie who plays the role of Jesus in the television series, the Chosen. At a gathering, a woman approached him with her adult son who suffered from cerebral palsy. She asked Roumie to heal her son. He said, “But I am not Jesus.” She pleaded again. Finally, he offered this help, “I am not Jesus. But I know Jesus. I will ask him to heal your son. Sometimes he heals, and sometimes he does not. But I will pray.”
No one can guarantee that God will heal a person. Still, we pray and ask God to do what only he can do. In 2 Corinthians 12:6-10, we learn that Paul asked God three times to remove his thorn in the flesh. God responded by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you and my power is perfected in weakness.” Paul did not receive the healing he sought, but he found great assurance in God’s promise to strengthen him in his weakness. So may we.
