It's about time

... that I wrote another blog post to keep you all informed about my Crohn's.

Well, my struggles with Crohn's these days seems to pale in comparison with my friend John's struggles with cancer. I've been praying for him a lot, this week especially, because Tuesday was a day of prayer and fasting for his healing (I "fasted" by drinking Boost all day instead of solid foods). It made me think a lot about what I believe about God's character in terms of healing. Does he heal people of their diseases? Yes. Has he? Most definitely. Do I believe he can heal John of the cancer that's eating him alive? Yes, I do. Do I believe that he will heal me of my Crohn's? Hmmm... Yes and no.

I think a lot about the stories of the times Jesus healed people in the Bible. The leper who said with great faith, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." The centurion who said "only say the word, and my servant will be healed." Jesus asks the lame man "Do you want to be healed?" and then heals him.

And I think of the widow pestering the king, and Jesus saying it was "a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."

What does it mean that I believe John can be healed but not me?

I do think it's true that God does what's best for us, and if healing me isn't what's best for me or for his glorification, then he won't do it. And I know that the experience of God's healing is usually a journey, not an instantaneous event.

So, I pray for more faith, faith that I will be healed, faith that John will be healed. And I ask you to pray with me.