Friend Needs Healing

Q: I have a friend who is a faithful believer in Christ. She has health problems and the doctors say that they have done all that they can. I am wondering, is there a more spiritual cure for her ailment?

A: I don’t know if or when there will be a cure. God doesn’t always “fix” things, sometimes he leaves them as part of the cross a Christian bears. The world suffers in vain, but Christians are allowed to participate in Christ’s suffering, feeling pain from this world in honor of the Savior who felt pain on their behalf. How we carry our troubles then both praises God and gives testimony to others of how God gives us the strength to endure and to overcome the problems of this life.

That doesn’t mean, however, that we give up hope. Christians also pray for healing for themselves and for others, remembering that in such things we tell God, “Thy will be done.” Perhaps God will intervene directly. Perhaps it will be through medicine. Yet no matter your friend’s physical condition, God will continue to love her, to forgive her, and to support and strengthen her in her trials. He has also given her at least one loving friend to share her burdens, to pray with her, and to love her. I thank God that you are such a blessing to her.

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Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of the book What Do Lutherans Believe.