Faith Even in Sickness

“It’s one thing to have faith for healing. It’s a greater thing to have faith for sickness.” – Jon Courson

 The Book of Job is probably my favorite OT book because through it the Holy Spirit led me to Christ. Job can be a difficult book to traverse but in it are the simple truths of God and when understood properly our faith will grow once we understand the message it brings. But understanding Job requires a complete reading because by its nature the story must completely unfold.

Today I was reading the 13^th chapter and came across a great point that was illuminated more clearly by a commentary from Pastor Jon Courson. To set up the context Job has lost everything he has including his health. All he has left is a wife who really doesn’t help and 3 friends who have been kind enough to have come to sit with him in his time of loss. Unfortunately his buddies have done little to help Job as they have pretty much just told him these things have happened because he is a not a Godly man and has all this sin which God is punishing him for. The problem is Job is a righteous man (not to be confused with perfect and without sin) who has been doing his best to follow God.

 Job is the quintessential book on suffering. While it may not answer the question completely of why suffering exists, what it does is teach us that God is sovereign and He is just and righteous. Just because we do not understand God’s ways, we do not have the right to even question Him, for His ways are greater than ours.

 Job makes a declaration that exemplifies the exact position all Christians need to take in all circumstances in chapter 13, verse 15 where he says, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”

This is what Courson in his OT Application Commentary says about that statement:              

“And with these words, Satan lost his bet. Although Job didn’t navigate his difficulty perfectly, he completely shuts Satan down right here. “Even if I don’t understand what God is doing, even though it seems to be to be unfair, even if He should slay me in the process, yet I will trust Him,” Job proclaims. Yes, Job’s faith will falter, but here it’s ignited. It’s one thing to have faith for healing. It’s a greater thing to have faith for sickness. That is, it takes greater faith to say, “I come to You for healing. But, Lord, should You, as You did to Paul, say, ‘My grace is sufficient,’ I will still trust You. I have faith in You, not faith that I can get You to do what I want You to do, but faith that You will do what’s best.” Even if the affliction doesn’t go away, even if the problem continues, even if the solution doesn’t come, faith says, “Though You slay me, I will still trust You because You were slain for me. You gave up everything because You love me. Therefore, I embrace whatever You decide to do. You see things I don’t. You know things I can’t.” Here, with his body broken out in boils, with his worldly possession and his family taken from him, with his friends relentlessly accusing him, faith flares up in Job.”

Read a part of that again. “It’s one thing to have faith for healing. It’s a greater thing to have faith for sickness. That is, it takes greater faith to say, “I come to You for healing. But, Lord, should You, as You did to Paul, say, ‘My grace is sufficient,’ I will still trust You. I have faith in You, not faith that I can get You to do what I want You to do, but faith that You will do what’s best.”

So do you trust God in ALL circumstances? Pray about this and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to have more faith than ever before. This life is hard and with it will come hard times. We must trust our God. Yes we can pray and ask for healing or ask for Him to remove the trial but whether He does or doesn’t we can rest in Christ knowing He is working things out for our good (see Romans 8:28) and in the wonderful promise of Jeremiah 29:11-14, “For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 'I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the LORD, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.”

God bless.