Satan’s Plaything

A young Christian man, zealous for God, recently found himself to be increasingly thirsty, fatigued and losing a lot of weight.  This was a concern for his Christian parents, so his father thought it expedient that he visit the young man at his home.  When he did so he found him near collapse and losing consciousness.  Later in hospital the young man was diagnosed as having Type 1 Diabetes.  The next day he said to his father, “I wonder if God will intervene and heal me?”  His dad said, “He has already intervened, I came at the right time and got you to the hospital, plus He’s given you the best of doctors and medicine.”

Whilst the young man fully acknowledged the words of his father that God’s hand was indeed in every detail of the situation, that is not what he meant when he spoke of divine intervention and healing.  Apart from declaring Jesus as the forgiver of sins and the Savior of our soul, I have found that one can never really know for sure just what the additional beliefs of a fellow Christian are, but in speaking with the young man’s father about this event it was my impression that perhaps he thought there would be no miraculous healing forthcoming from God for his son.

I did not detect a lot of enthusiasm from him when I suggested it to be a good idea to be open to what God may do in the future as a result of prayer.  As is the case with many Christians, he seems to be one who has no problem with believing in Jesus’ miraculous healing powers as recorded “back then” in the gospels and the New Testament, but has a problem accepting the reality that the Lord still physically heals today and desires His church to believe that without doubt or questioning.  Whether or not this man is among them, lots of Christians think it presumptuous to pray and seek physical healing.  As a result, they can become Satan’s plaything. 

A Christian lady was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She spoke often of the Lord as her Healer, but it seemed to go over her head when given encouragement to press into God and find His mind for her on the matter.  She rejected traditional healing methods in favor of alternative natural medicines because less chemicals would be going into her body.  She saw all these natural medicines as being from God because, “they were from His garden.”  I spent a lot of years talking with and praying for this dear lady and although she was very good at quoting a few healing Scriptures she could never tell me what God was saying to her personally.

In fact, I believe she blocked herself off from hearing God personally very early in the piece.  While things looked promising she listened to the voices of some in her church – generous with their healing Scriptures, advice and opinions but as things got worse nearly all of them fell away from her.  She stopped eating certain types of foods early on too, especially meat, “because God tells us in the Bible that ‘I have given you every herb that yields seed….to you it shall be for food’ Genesis 1:29 He doesn’t say anything about eating meat!”  No amount of sharing “meat” Scriptures with her would she accept, her mind was made up.

Was her refusal to eat meat my concern?  No.  People are free to eat meat, or not eat meat but they’re not free to foist their views either way on other believers, which is what often happened Colossians 2:16.  My concern was for the stress that she put herself and her family under.  That’s why I knew she had never sought God too deeply on this whole thing.  Instead of bowing to and taking the God of the Scriptures to give assurance, comfort and guidance, she took the (few) Scriptures of God instead and became presumptuous with them.  She paid an awful price for doing so … she became Satan’s plaything.

I was speaking with a woman a few years ago about the lack miraculous healing power in the church in general.  Among those in their group was one who was mentally ill and quite a few who suffered from physical illnesses.  I made the suggestion that if God’s church was to truly come under the authority and anointing of the Holy Spirit and take the promises of God about healing seriously and act on them, we would have a very different church in the world giving a very different witness.  Her only reply was, “But who would get the glory?”

Perhaps I was not seen by this person as one who was faithful, but rather, one who was presumptuous.  In a public meeting I was once asked to pray for a man not feeling well.  I cannot recall the words of my prayer for him but I well recall the lack of reaction I got from the people when speaking the word of God into his life.  Was I seen by them as Satan’s plaything?  Very possibly.  This particular group had a few pet doctrines … the Scriptures being twisted to back up some of them, but I never heard anyone claiming or proclaiming the divine, miraculous physical healing power of God the Holy Spirit.

How we Christians have limited and grieved the Lord Jesus Christ by reducing Him simply to being the forgiver of sins and the Savior of our soul.  As beautiful as this truth is, He has so much more for us and if we’re ignorant of that reality or don’t embrace it because of doctrinal bias of some sort, we cannot but fail to become Satan’s plaything.  One example only.  Theologians, pastors, teachers and people have tried all sorts of ways to interpret Isaiah 53:4-5 so as to exclude physical healing.  It may well be prettier English to read the words griefs and sorrows in verse 4 but if we limit those meanings we limit God.  And we have.

Griefs speaks of ‘malady’ ‘anxiety’ and ‘calamity’ but it also means diseases and sicknesses.  Jesus bore our physical diseases and sicknesses.  Sorrows speaks of ‘anguish’ or ‘afflictions’ but it also means physical afflictions and pains every bit as much as it means mental & spiritual afflictions and pains.  Jesus bore our physical afflictions plus our physical pains … there’s no getting away from this and the more we allow the Spirit of God to burn it into our spirits the less we will become Satan’s plaything over it.

No wonder the Bible declares the word of God to be living and powerful.  No wonder God exhorts us to “give attention to my (His) words” etc, in Proverbs 4:20-22. The word health in the last verse literally means ‘medicine’ ‘cure’ ‘deliverance’ ‘healing’ ‘remedy’ ‘sound’ ‘wholesome’ ‘yielding.’  There’s no doubt about this.  I grieve how Christians have, for whatever reason, limited God in their understanding of His gift of salvation.  I have been mightily blessed over many years to receive lots of divine, miraculous physical healing – not to speak of the times I’ve prayed for others and have been blessed to see them get healed too.

Am I saying that I’ve always been strong in my faith and never doubted God’s provision for physical healing?  No.  I too have been Satan’s plaything … too often.  I’ve lost count over the years of the days, weeks and months I’ve battled him in this … and he won a lot of those battles.  Whilst some of my divine, miraculous physical healings have been instant or came a few days later, a few of them I’ve had to wait months on.  Still am.  Maybe it’s God’s purpose for us that we sometimes wait, to learn other important things, but nevertheless it is Satan I gave my ear to more than God sometimes and I’m sorry for that.

Over the years I’ve spoken to Christians and read of many others who see their sicknesses as a cross to bear.  How can that be when Jesus bore them on His cross? We would never say that about besetting sin.  Rather, we would be acknowledging the sanctification process in our lives and be spending lots of time in prayer seeking our release.  Why can’t we do the same for our physical sicknesses?  Yes, I’m well aware that many dear Christians are doing exactly that.  They’ve been doing so for years.  They know the full meanings of the words griefs and sorrows.

But I’m also well aware that many dear Christians are not aware of the full meanings and are either not praying or only half-heartedly doing so … for a number of reasons.  I read some works of a favorite (deceased) Bible teacher recently.  He said that God worked miracles galore in getting the children of Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land, but once they were in the land they had to fight for every square inch of it.  He then related this to us as Christians … God worked many miracles to get us out of Egypt (the world) and into His kingdom, but that we too have to fight for every promise given to us.

Makes sense.  How else are we ever going to know God in the measure that Scripture says we can know Him?  Encouragement.  Get to know God for yourself first-hand, not second-hand as through the mind of your preacher, teacher and fellow Christians. Test everything you hear, test everything you are told.  You can only ever do so by reading the Bible prayerfully, studying the Bible prayerfully, living according to the Bible prayerfully and only as the Holy Spirit quickens and empowers you to do so.  Any alternative to this will place you into religious slavery and you’ll be Satan’s plaything.

There are thousands of Christians who can tell you all about their sicknesses.  They read books on them, spend copious hours on the Internet researching every detail about them and in the end they appear to know as much as their doctors do on the subject.  That was the stumbling block for the lady with terminal cancer.  She knew more about her disease than she ever did the Lord Jesus and His Scriptures.  If she was alive today I would point her to Proverbs 3:7-8 because she outworked the first part by listening to too many charlatans … quacks.  The cancer also went to her bones.

The young Christian man’s dad was right.  God did divinely intervene.  He did give him the very best of doctors and medicines and I pray that he continues to take their advice plus their medicines.  It is wise to do so.  But equally, it is wise for him to press into God and find His mind and will for himself about this and speak God’s healing words into and over his life.  After all, God is also a Doctor and His word is medicine too … supernatural medicine.  The more this young man does so the less will he allow himself to be Satan’s plaything. “I am the Lord who heals you.” Exodus 15:26. “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” Matthew 8:17. “….Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” John 11:40.