Suffering and Miracles

 Our friend Len shouldn’t be alive today. An active man now at age 70, he’ll tell you that 45 years ago he had a near-death experience, and 15 years ago was told he had maybe 18 months to live. Len was in so much pain that he asked God to let him die. That’s when someone suggested he see an MD in Cleveland with a reputation for treating -- and healing -- terminal cases like his. Len met with this physician, Dr. Issam Nemeh; what happened next shocked and baffled his doctors. 

The Bible is full of stories of people being cured of physical and mental ailments. Many, like the blind man Bartimaeus, were persistent in asking Jesus to heal them (see Mark 10:46-52). Even today, we hear of people being healed miraculously, outside of medical explanation. We may wonder why God allows suffering in the first place, and why some people recover and not others, with medicine or without.

 One way to look at this is to ask, “Why do athletes endure brutal practice sessions?” They suffer to reach their goal: winning. Yet not everyone wins, even if they practice.

 Our ultimate goal isn’t to live on earth forever. Our ‘winning’ is living in perfect Love, which is eternal life with God. Our earthly sufferings can help us reach that goal. Yes, illness and other difficulties cause us great pain and distress. When we ask God to take away our pain or use it for some kind of good, or when we ask Him for the grace and wisdom to get through a particular hardship, these humble prayers acknowledge His power and move us toward Him. Whether or not we’re healed, or if our prayer is answered in a way different from what we had hoped, we have brought ourselves closer to God. When others care for us in our illness, or support us in our difficulties, they become more like Him; they show us His love. All of this can bring all of us closer to Him. That’s our goal. 

 Our sufferings can help us know that God is with us always; He is alive, loving, and powerful.

 Len was healed immediately. Dr. Nemeh stresses that it’s God, not him, Who does the healing.  You can listen to Len and Dr. Nemeh tell their story to the radio personality you may know as ‘Trapper Jack’ on this link:

https://blindfaithlive.com/the-miracle-story-of-leonard-debenedictis-blind-faith-live-episode-19/#sthash.zQDNiuAJ.dpbs

 

“Lord, remind me to turn to You when I’m suffering.”

 

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