Wednesday, February 11, 2009
I have been reading through the book of II
Chronicles. In it are the stories of the kings of Judah and Israel. Some of the
kings were good kings but most of them were bad, some were even wicked and vile.
Asa, however, was one of the good ones.
Unfortunately, as he got older it seems he
forgot how God had helped him so often when he was younger. It seems that
he turned more and more to relying on man and not God. Finally, in the
thirty-ninth year of his reign he gets a really bad disease that affects his
feet. The Bible says that, "yet in his disease he sought not to the LORD, but to
the physicians." Two years later, he died.
This verse indicates that Asa was not faulted for
seeking help from physicians but for choosing to seek help from physicians
instead of seeking God's help. We need to remember this also as we seek help for
various diseases and afflictions. We need to turn to the One who made us in the
first place.
The prophet Jeremiah expressed the same idea this
way: "Thus saith the
LORD; Cursed [be] the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the LORD." This
verse indicates that we bring a curse on
ourselves if our trust is in man and turn our hearts away from God.
Does the Bible guarantee healing if we turn to God?
No. We are not even told if King Asa ever
recovered from his disease. It seems unlikely though. The next verse simply
says, "And Asa slept with his fathers . . ."
On the contrary, neither can we expect healing if
we ignore asking for healing from the One who made us. This story is a reminder
of the proper order of things. So, start by seeking healing from the Great
Physician and then find a human physician that can help you.
For your health,
Dr. Neill H. Payne