We have had some health issues in our family of late and with that, we have also been making some basic dietary changes. Not only did we make changes to our diet, but we also added some alternative supplements and out-of-the-ordinary oils and foods to combat the things attacking our well-being. Nothing radical, but not things we would usually use.

One day, I was talking to friends about what we were doing and expressing my hope that some of these alternative “remedies” may be the cure we were hoping for. These friends frowned and told me that if there was healing to do, God would be doing it. I did not disagree. However, I also felt they were missing the point of what I was saying. While I agreed, I knew helping ourselves was also the correct thing to do.

God does do some miraculous healing. He has healed in the long ago past and still does in the here and now. I believe in this healing and always hope for it, but more times than not we do not get the instant miracle healing. Many have wondered why some are healed and others are not. I do not have those answers, but I know God says He will heal us, and I also know that sometimes the answer is "not now."

Is hoping for a cure a lack of faith?

While some feel we need to stand still and just let God heal us, that is not what the Bible’s lessons teach. When I looked at our situation I realized that God created all things, and it is through God’s creation that we are seeking help. God made the animals, plants and the heavens for us (Genesis 1:29-30). Do we believe God miraculously heals? Yes, we do. However, when we read God’s Word we realize that God expects us to be doers as well. When snakes were biting the Israelites and they were dying, God did not just say repent and I will heal you. He told Moses to set up a carved pole that people had to look upon to be healed. They needed to have faith that the action would heal them (Numbers 21:9).

When at war there were times when God fought Israel’s battles, but more times than not, the people had to go forward into battle. They had faith that God would help them and allow them to succeed. Yet that did not mean some would not die or that they could stand still and do nothing. They had to go forward in faith and fight the enemy. In our case, the enemy is illness. We use God’s creation to fight that enemy and hope it will help us win the battle we are fighting. If it does we still praise God for the healing because it is God who ultimately caused the healing. Our efforts aided in the fight, but God created these things so we could fight in the first place. Ezekiel was inspired to write about a time in the future in God's Kingdom when trees will grow whose leaves will be made into medicine. God supplies good foods to nourish and heal us.

Soldiers fought with swords and shields in biblical times. Those were tools to use in the war. We use things in our war too. It comes down to faith. We have faith in God’s creation and in the fact that He provides us with what we need. Will we be healed now? We do not know, but we know God has a plan, and that may include us not being healed right now. Most people who were healed in Christ’s day had to physically go to Him to be healed. They had to have faith in the fact He could heal them. Like the woman who knew if she could only touch His cloak she would be healed. Christ saw her faith and healed her (Luke 8:43-48). Today, we can still seek Him in prayer.

Even the father whose daughter was dead was told his belief would heal her. Christ told him to go home because she was only sleeping (Luke 8:49-50). Seeking is an action. In John, we read about Jesus and a sick man who was had a crippling disease. The man explained that he tried to get to a pool where healings took place, but he was not fast enough when it stirred so he could be healed (John 5:3-8). Christ ultimately healed the man, but He saw the faith of the man who had waited such a long time. The stirring of the water was not something that happened naturally. It was a place people went to be healed, and it was a gift from God. We too are using God’s gifts for healing.

The point is that God created many things to bring us comfort. Some of them were made for healing. As long as they are not unclean or sinful to God it is not a lack of faith to turn to those gifts. In fact, it is faith in God’s creation that leads us to them in the first place. God is the ultimate healer and we praise Him for it all.