Author: Jim Meredith

Jim Meredith is a retired U.S. Army Colonel who was born in Marion, Indiana in 1934. He holds degrees from Wheaton College (IL) and the University of Cincinnati. He completed 31 years of military service, including two combat tours in Viet Nam. He retired in 1987. Following lengthy Pentagon service and attache duty in Greece, his final assignment was as Department Chairman on the faculty of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. Following retirement, he was initially involved in government relations activities in Washington, D.C. Thereafter he became President of the American National Metric Council, Board Chairman and Executive Director of Military Community Youth Ministries and then Director of International Expatriate Ministry for Young Life, retiring in 2001. Jim lives in Colorado Springs with Barbara, his wife of nearly 65 years. They have been blessed with four children, nineteen grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. Jim is an active retreat leader and speaker.

The Healing Conundrum

Jim Meredith

Dear Trekker,

Nothing in the life of a trekker likely will ever be as challenging as how we deal with suffering, ours and/or others. And a companion issue equally challenging is the subject of “divine healing.” A few things have sobered me recently, so I am writing this month on the latter subject, plus giving a strong recommendation to purchase and read a most insightful book. More on that later.

There seems to be two extremes which over the years have too long defined a so called “Christian” position. I reject both positions. On the one extreme are “dispensationalists” who say “divine healings” today cannot be of God. I first encountered this position as a young student at Wheaton College. I remember some of my classmates went into Chicago to a Kathryn Kuhlman healing service for the purpose of proving she was a fraud. As I recall, they stirred the “healing brew pot,” but nothing was settled. The other extreme position has also found great voice in my lifetime. In a nutshell, it says God doesn’t want you sick and sickness lingers often because we do not have sufficient faith for God to heal us or for whomever we have prayed. A very close friend, who has gone to glory, had a son with muscular dystrophy, from birth as I recall. My friend (an ordained minister) could become livid very quickly over health (and wealth) gospeliers who said his son was not healed because he (the father) lacked faith; ergo, it is always God’s desire to heal, but we must possess the faith to release the power of God.  Such dubious theology is more than pitiable; it hurts and distracts many in understanding God. Again, I strongly reject both positions which are gross simplifications of a serious life issue.

Personally, I have experienced (and written before in MEN), what I call a divine healing. It was instant and did not involve faith on anybody’s part, only my personal confession of the sin of taking my physical body for granted. My uncle called it the “angelic fallacy.” We are not angels, and we must take care of   our bodies! I learned so much during this period of my life… now 40 years ago. And I am still learning!

Another personal reference… friend wife has needed my constant “home care” the last few months. She has a venous ulcer on her left leg. (Google it and you will find all you need to know.) It debilitates and quite often takes “forever” to heal. Then, she fell in the kitchen and wounded her back six weeks ago. Nuff on that… but God was guiding us to put Barbara’s illness in perspective. A long-time friend suggested we read Joni Eareckson Tada’s book, A Place of Healing, subtitled “Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty.” We have one chapter to go… I am reading aloud to Barbara and the book is right on.

I hope you’ve heard of Joni! She is a special woman for many reasons. She would be at the top of my list for influential women of the 20th century. About forty years ago she instantly became a quadriplegic as a result of a diving accident. Today she has written over 50 books, is the CEO of a world-wide ministry to the disabled, has completed scores of paintings using only a brush between her teeth, is a radio talk host, etc. Her achievements since the diving accident as a teenager leave one spellbound and speechless. In the book she deals with her unrequited request to God for relief of chronic, severe back pain.

Now let’s go back… God does heal, miraculously or naturally, but there seems to be a no surefire formula in the Scriptures or in today’s world. No one has statistics on God answering our prayers “instantly as we pray them.” But I assume the averages are low indeed. As Joni writes so poignantly, God is not only concerned with our physical bodies, He is far more concerned with our hearts and spirits. And of course, he uses us, as in Joni’s case, to fulfill Sovereign purposes.

Sickness can and should be redemptive. We are forced (Joni writes beautifully on this point) to search the depth of our being, of our attitude. At the end, we can find God anew. One has said in regard to intense pain and suffering… “praying is like singing down an empty hall. We hear only our own song… we scream. And in the scream is the beginning of prayer.”

Joni’s book deals with the two extremes mentioned earlier. She opens her book recounting those who want to see her “get out of her wheelchair.” And of course, she covers “the sin curse.” One young man remarked, “Joni, there must be some sin in your life that you haven’t dealt with yet.” Another… “Joni, you must have a lack of faith. I mean look at you. You’re stuck in your wheel chair.” (Interestingly, Joni writes a whole chapter on “thankfulness” for her wheelchair!)

Joni puts to rest “faith” as the focus of healing. She outlines throughout the book that the focus is and must be on Jesus Christ. “Great faith is to believe in a great Savior,” she says.

Why does God heal some and not others? Christ clearly did not and God does not instantly heal physically all who come to Him for healing. And Joni is so real and present. She says: “Do I pray for miraculous healing for my chronic pain? You bet I do. Am I expecting it? If God wills, yes.” But clearly, trekker, God cedes his sovereignty to no one.

The bottom line for Joni is God’s glory. Here is a powerful quote: “Whatever you want Lord,” I pray. “If it would give you more glory and advance Your gospel more quickly, I’m all for it. Always and always I want to be in submission to the Father and obedient to the Word of Jesus – knowing full well that if I had everything else in life and lacked that, I would have nothing at all.”

God heals, trekker, often in ways we do not readily recognize.  As in Joni’s case, God’s delayed healing is encased in His higher purposes. We learn these purposes over time, if at all.

Whatever we do… whatever pain we endure… let it also be to the praise and glory of God. This is a recurring theme of the New Testament. (See I Corinthians 10:31; Col 3:17, 23.) God has his sovereign, divine purposes. Only God knows the thousands upon thousands who have been blessed as He completes His work in Joni’s life. And as yet, that does not include her healing from excruciating pain. But we shall pray for and with Joni and with others. For sure, God is in the healing business… in His place, in His time, for His purpose!

Your friend,

Jim Meredith