Mark 5:34 And he said to her, “Daughter, *your faith has made you well; *go in peace, and be healed of your *disease.”
Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Matthew [10:1] And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.
Webster says disease is a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment.
The effects of disease on the life of an individual is devastating. The slow wilting away of life is a painful thing to watch. The loved ones pain only pales to the crippling fingers of disease on the individual experiencing the pain, weakness, numbing, confusion and anxiety of the body. When the body begins to be broken down by disease there is not only little one can do but little one knows to do.
Disease like sin has a path and that path is death. The wages of sin is death. Nothing can be done about the results of sin except die. Nothing can be done with disease except death.
But like sin, disease has been paid for by Christ. He has the power over sin, death and the grave! We have no power over sin to stop its results! But Christ has that power! When he walked on earth He healed all manner of disease. He later gave His disciples the power to heal all manner of disease! The power of the Healer is in the hands of the healed! We who have been reconciled are to reconcile others. We who have been set free from the bondage of sin have been commanded to set free the prisoner! We who were hungry are now sent out with food for the perishing! We who were naked and ashamed have now been commissioned to clothed and cover the shame. We have been given the authority to heal the sick and release people from their disease!
The weight of this responsibility is too heavy for us to carry. The world needs a Savior, a sacrifice and a sacrament. This responsibility is laid upon us but we are to lay our lives back on Christ to do His work! Try to solve the worlds problems and you will fail! Invest yourself in their disease and you will die of that disease. No, we cannot do the work of Christ in our power. We must work the works of God in the power of the Holy Spirit! We must become the working clothes of the Holy Spirit and He in us becomes the Hope of Glory! If you can do the work then you don’t need God. If you don’t need God then you are working on something that is too small and insignificant!
I have had disease and I know the powerlessness and helplessness it brings! I have seen disease take strength and vitality from me. I did not need sympathy or empathy I needed to be set free from the disease! I needed someone with the ability to allow God to work through them for the disease to surrender to! The world and love ones need you and I to let God use us to heal the sick. I am praying that God will anoint us to heal the sick and be able to say to them as He said to the daughter of Israel, “and he said to her, “Daughter, *your faith has made you well; *go in peace, and be healed of your *disease.”
