11/06/2024
God Wants You Well!
by Tom Shanklin
When He came down from the mountains, large crowds followed Him. And then a l***r came and worshipped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, saying, “I will. Be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. (Matthew 8:1-3 MEV)
Knowing the will of God is one of the most important keys to receiving from the Lord. After all, if we don’t know God’s will, it is impossible to have faith.
In fact, one of the most faith-destroying prayers we can pray when it comes to healing is, “If it be your will O Lord…” What we need to do before we pray is to find out the will of God.
The only way we can find the will of God is to look into His Word. Our feelings will not tell us the truth about His will, nor will our circumstances. We must look into the only reliable source of information, the Word of God.
We can see the will of God by looking at the life of Jesus as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. After all, Jesus is the “expressed image of God” and He always did those things that pleased the Father. So, when we see Jesus in action, we see the will of God. This account of the l***r coming to Jesus gives us great insight into the will of God concerning healing.
The l***r said to Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” He knew that Jesus was able to heal him. The question in his mind was whether or not Jesus wanted to heal him.
Just like the man with leprosy, many people today have a revelation of God’s ability to heal, but they question whether God wants to heal them. It may be religious tradition which has blinded them to the truth. Or it may be their own insecurity in their relationship with God. Or it may be because they have not yet received their healing and they therefore conclude that it must not be God’s will.
Whatever the reason, if you don’t know the will of God concerning healing, it will greatly hinder you in receiving from the Lord, because knowing the revealed will of God is the beginning point of faith. If you do not know God’s will, how can you have faith to receive from Him.
So, the question is, does God want you well? Jesus settled the question forever when He answered the man, I will. Be clean.” I like the Philips version here, “Of course I want to. Be clean!”
Does God want to heal you? His Word gives us the answer, “Of course I want to.”
And yet many people will continue to be confused about the will of God concerning their healing. As a result, they are believing and saying the wrong things, such as:
“God is using this sickness to teach me something.”
Or, “If God wants to heal me, He will.”
Or, “This sickness is a blessing in disguise.”
Or, “This is my cross to bear.”
All of these ideas are totally unscriptural. Also, they also have the capacity to keep you sick. Let’s look at what the Bible says about God’s will for healing:
God is the Your Healer:
“… For I am the LORD who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26 MEV)
God revealed Himself to Israel as “the Lord who heals you.” In the Hebrew, it is “Jehovah Rapha” which is one of the redemptive names of God. His name reveals His character, and His character is to heal. If God’s will is not healing, then He will have to go to the courthouse and get a name change. But He says, “I am the LORD, I do not change…” so you can be assured that His will is healing for you.
Jesus died on the cross to take your sins and sicknesses:
Surely our sicknesses he hath borne, And our pains–he hath carried them, And we–we have esteemed him plagued, Smitten of God, and afflicted. And he is pierced for our transgressions, Bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace is on him, And by his bruise there is healing to us. (Isaiah 53:4, 5, YLT).
Matthew 8:17 confirms that this Old Testament verse concerning the cross of Christ pertains not only to the forgiveness of sins, but also to the healing of your diseases. The question is: if Jesus took your sickness and pain on the cross, why would He want you to be sick? No, He wants you well, and paid a great price to obtain your healing.
Sickness is of the devil. Healing is from God:
How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38 MEV)
According to Acts 10:38, those who Jesus healed was oppressed of the devil. Their sickness did not come from God, it came from the devil. God anointed Jesus to heal those who where oppressed of the devil. And since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, He is still doing the same work today, healing those who are oppressed of the devil.
Faith begins when we know the revealed will of God. You can have faith in God, because He has clearly revealed from His Word that He wants you well. Because of this, you can confidently stand in faith against your sickness, knowing that Almighty God stands with you. It reminds me of what He says in Romans 8:31, “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Life can be tough sledding when we think that God is not for us, or if we think that He wants us to be sick. But when we understand the revealed will of God, (that God wants us well), we can begin to have faith. We can walk by faith and not by sight, which will enable us to have victory.
The l***r man was like the rest of us. He didn’t know everything about God, nor God’s will. But he came to Jesus with what he did know and an open mind and heart. When he came, he worshipped. He got himself into the right position to receive by acknowledging the Lordship of Jesus, and worshipping Him.
Then Jesus revealed the will of God and touched him saying, “Be clean.” Today, God is speaking to you through His Word saying, “Yes, I want you well! Be healed, in Jesus’ name.”
Pray this prayer from your heart:
Father, thank you for your Word. It’s only through your Word that I can know your will. I choose to believe your Word rather than my circumstance. I believe in Jesus, who died for me and rose from the dead. I acknowledge Him as Lord of my life. I believe that You want me well. Thank you for touching me and healing me, in Jesus name. Amen.
