Braving the Storm

Tags: Faith, church, Eric Gaudion, Braving the Storm, terminal illness, suffering, healing

Date: 12 June 2008 00:03:20

On his blog Braving the Storm my friend Eric posted an interesting blog entry about suffering and pain and how as Christians we have to deal with these things. He recently went to Bill Johnson's church in Redding, California and during one of the meetings someone had a word of knowledge to which a woman responded and received prayer for painful osteo-arthritis. After the prayer she was encouraged to try and do movements she couldn't do before, but she hadn't been healed and was still in pain. This story reminded me so much of some of the healings that we are hearing have happened at Todd Bentley's church in Florida.

On his blog Eric commented on this woman and her situation and said,

“As a pastor and a fellow sufferer of chronic pain I felt very keenly for her. I praise God for the many healings taking place right now, but I want to urge people not to neglect the need of the disappointed. We need a theology of suffering alongside our theology of healing.

* It will bring balance to our prayers and our comments
* It will assure the disappointed that they still matter to God and to us
* It will hold them in God's love while they wait for God's power
So, what was happening that night? Was God calling this lady out? What for if not for healing? Well, I suppose that in such a big crowd there may have been others who fitted the description given. It may not have been her time for healing, but it may well have been a test of her responsiveness and obedience to God. It may just have been a well-intentioned mistake. What it did do was make me determined not to neglect the disappointed in my ministry. I want to find ways of reaching out to them and to continue standing with them while they wait for God. After all, in this as in other aspects of the Christian life, whilst we may be disappointed in a ministry or a meeting or a man, Jesus should not be a disappointment. I have found that He is not, and even in the heat of the battle with pain, I have proved Him to be faithful and true."

Eric himself is an inspirational man. He has acute haemorrhagic pancreatitis which has left him in chronic pain for many years and eventually this illness has forced him into early retirement. Earlier this year I had the pleasure of spending some time with him and his wife Diane, just talking about life and how things often don't work out the way we expect. I was challenged by their quiet response to God and their faithfulness in pursuing Him, despite all that has happened to them both. Whilst I was on holiday with my parents last year I read Eric's book Braving the Storm which was about his journey and response to pain. I found it incredibly challenging and honest and in my own situation where I was feeling a great deal of emotional pain I found it very helpful.

The conversation that I had with Eric and Diane reflected on the way that the church has so often got its response to people who are suffering so wrong. We expect to have this triumphant attitude over illness, and yet for those who do not get healed we don't know how to respond. The church desperately needs to learn to react, support and love those people who are suffering, whether that be physical, emotional or spiritual. It seems to me that so often our ability to do so is limited by our expectations on what think God should be doing, rather than standing with those people who are going through the process. As Eric said on his blog, ”whilst we may be disappointed in a ministry or a meeting or a man, Jesus should not be a disappointment. I have found that He is not, and even in the heat of the battle with pain, I have proved Him to be faithful and true.” Amen!