Seeing in the Land of the Living: Did God Really Say (Part 7)

Maybe I was never healed? Did God really promise healing forever? Maybe the condition was just in remission?

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In July 2018, after nearly 10 weeks of having a strange headache, the doctors diagnosed me with a rare condition. A condition that was scary and stole much of my year. The condition turned our world upside down. However, in November, after praying some of the biggest, boldest prayers, God showed up in a huge way. A specialist confirmed that there was no evidence of disease. Not just that the disease wasn’t there currently, but that the disease was NEVER there.

However, in early 2019 I started experiencing headaches again. Headaches that have felt too similar to the condition that I had no evidence of. Headaches that scared me and scared those around me. Headaches that made me doubt. Maybe I was never healed? Did God really promise healing forever? Maybe the condition was just in remission? Over and over I have had these thoughts swirl in my mind. On and on I questioned if I misheard.

“Did God really say…?” is the oldest question in the Bible. In Genesis, Adam and Eve are living in the Garden of Eden with no worries. They have full freedom with God. God literally walked with them daily. Can you imagine? The Garden was sinless. There was no evil and no pain. However, Genesis 3:1 says the serpent was the most “cunning” of all the wild animals the Lord had made. Some translations say the serpent was “crafty”. The Hebrew word used to describe the serpent means “adept in the use of subtlety”. In other words, the serpent was tricky. He knew how to cleverly twist words and sway the people he was talking to. In Genesis 3:1, the serpent – our enemy – asks the Eve “Did God really say, ‘You Can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?”

We know the rest of this story. Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and sin entered the world. All of this started because Adam and Eve listened to the serpent. They let doubt creep into their mind. They allowed what the serpent said to twist their knowledge of what God has said. Sin began with a twisting of the truth.

All these years later, the enemy is using the exact same tricks he used in the garden. He is sneaking in and asking us “Did God really say…?” He’s making us question ourselves and the promises we have been given. Honestly friends, the enemy doesn’t have to change his tricks, because we keep falling for them. Over and over, we listen to the enemy cleverly twist what God has told us. We listen to him lie to us about who we are and what God has spoken. We follow him to a prison, and allow ourselves to be chained up.

When I first shared about this diagnosis, I shared who God is.  Here is what I shared:

God is faithful. Lamentations 3:22-23 says this in the NIV Translation:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

God is good. Psalm 100:5 says this in the Passion Translation:

For the Lord is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you — so kind that it will astound you! And he is famous for his faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for he keeps his promises to every generation!

God is forgiving. Isaiah 43:25 says this in the NIV Translation:

I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

God is strong and all-knowing. Psalm 147:5 says this in the Passion Translation:

How great is our God! There’s absolutely nothing his power cannot accomplish, and he has infinite understanding of everything.

God is a God of healing. Psalm 41:3 says this in the Passion Translation:

When they are sick, God will restore them, lying upon their bed of suffering. He will raise them up again and restore them back to health.

God is a God of restoration. 1 Peter 5:1 this in the Passion Translation:

 And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up.

God has a good plan for ME! Jeremiah 29:11 promises this in the NIV Translation:

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

These verses aren’t even a tip of all that God is. Scripture paints a picture of a God who is big. A God who chases us. A God sacrificed His only son for us. A God who calls us children. A God who gives us royal authority. A God who simply delights in us. Hebrews 6:18 says it is impossible for God to lie. He can’t be a God who promises healing and restoration, and then not come through. He doesn’t do things halfway. In fact, He is a God who does abundantly more than we can imagine.

Every day I have to choose to take my thoughts captive. I have to choose to tell the enemy he has to leave.  I have to choose to surround myself with truth. I can choose to soak up scripture, listen to worship music and surround myself with people who speak life. When the enemy says “Did God really say…?” I can choose to respond with scripture. I have shared before one of my favorite verses to run my thoughts through is Philippians 4:8. The verse says this:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Believing the lie that the condition I was diagnosed with in 2018 is back, is not true. It’s not noble. It’s not right. It’s not pure. It’s not lovely. It’s not admirable. It’s not excellent and it’s not praiseworthy. It has to go. Friends, I would be lying if I said this was easy work. I have to make a decision every day to choose to think on what is found in Philippians 4:8.

When I was 18, someone very close to me was diagnosed with cancer. She believed that she was healed. In her core, she knew who she was and what her Father said about her. On one particularly hard day, I asked her how she could walk in so much faith. She looked me right in the eye, and told me that some days it was easy. Some days she jumped out of bed and didn’t question her healing. However, other days, she had to remind herself with every breath “I’m healed.” She told me that every day she chose to remind herself of the truth, the Father showed up. Training our thoughts isn’t easy work, but it’s work that is worth it.

For me personally, it’s not just the thoughts that have to go, the headaches have to go too. I opened this post by sharing that the condition I was once diagnosed with left no evidence. Healing was complete. Why do I question what God said? I can live headache free because of who my God is.

Today, I wanted to remind you of who you are, and what God has said. Maybe your situation isn’t as clear as mine, maybe you don’t have a doctor who has confirmed there is no evidence of disease. However, we don’t have to question what God has said. I promise we are the ones who complicate it most times. I want to challenge you to tell the enemy he has to leave. The enemy doesn’t get to torture your thoughts. You have the power to walk out of the chains.

 

 

This is an updated edition of a post originally published on borderless.blog.

The views and opinions expressed by Kingdom Winds Collective Members, authors, and contributors are their own and do not represent the views of Kingdom Winds LLC.

About the Author

Melissa Forster lives in Missouri with her husband, Dan, and their adorable gray cat named Leo. She loves Jesus with her whole heart and loves following Him to a place where her faith is without borders. She collects llamas, t-rexs and grand adventures. Her favorite place to be is tucked in at home with copious amounts of coffee and a great book. Melissa and Dan have been struggling with delayed fertility for ten years and have two precious babies in heaven. Melissa writes from her heart about her (slightly dramatic) near death experiences, grief, joy and who Jesus is in the midst of all of it.