Acts 10:38 | NKJV (38) 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.
Very often, God will do miracles to show people Who He is and that he loves them very much.
Matthew 15:29-31 | NLT (29) Jesus returned to the Sea of Galilee and climbed a hill and sat down. (30) A vast crowd brought to Him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and He healed them all. (31) The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again! And they praised the God of Israel.
Acts 8:5-8 | NKJV (5) Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. (6) And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. (7) For unclean spirits, crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed; and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. (8) And there was great joy in that city.
For new followers of Christ, God will help them with miracles out of His great love and mercy for them.
As we grow and mature in our walk, those miracles seem to become fewer and fewer. Why? Because there is a greater way for us to live as believers.
The danger is this: if you look at Jesus’ ministry and what happened in the Book of Acts and think that unless healing happens that way, then it is not healing, you are wrong.
It is just as much healing whether it takes time or not.
2 Kings 20:5-7 | NLT (5) “Go back to Hezekiah, the leader of My people. Tell him, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you, and three days from now you will get out of bed and go to the Temple of the LORD. (6) I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for My own honor and for the sake of My servant David.’” (7) Then Isaiah said, “Make an ointment from figs.” So Hezekiah’s servants spread the ointment over the boil, and Hezekiah recovered!
This shows us that there was a gradual healing in the word “recovered.”
Mark 16:15-18 | NKJV (15) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (17) And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; (18) they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
When we are always looking for the instantaneous miracle, we miss God’s wonderful way of healing called “recovery.”
Why is the process of recovery better than a miracle?
Receiving from God by the process of faith is better because you learn how to obtain and maintain from God what He has said in His Word.
1 Timothy 6:12 | NKJV (12) Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12 | MSG (12) Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.
We must learn how to receive from God through fighting the good fight of faith.
Paul is telling us that anything that we receive from God, is more than just receiving it by faith.
Once the Children of Israel got into the Promised Land and began to occupy and live there and it begins to produce for them, someone was always trying to take it from them. These people were coming and trying to take from them the “stuff” God had given to them.
Canaan is a picture of our Christian life. There will be a fight to lay hold of what God has given to you.
You receive what God has for you by faith but there is a fight to lay hold of it and to keep it.
“Lay hold” means to grab it and hold on tight; to get a hold of in order to obtain and possess
In the fight of faith, we need to learn to “hold on” to what is ours.
We often see ourselves as people who don’t have something, and we are trying to get it. The good fight of faith is just the opposite.
Healing is already yours and the enemy would like to keep you from receiving it or take from you what is already yours.
It is like having the title to something. The title is not the thing but if you hold the title, you have the thing. If you hold on to the title, sooner or later the thing will show up.
The devil comes to my mind and tells me I am not going to get it. He should be saying, “You have it and I want to take it…”
The way that he postures himself is to try and convince you that you do not have it.