682 The Spiritual Man
be welcomed by us. The Son of God comes to set us free, not to have
us bound.
Why does God not remove our infirmity when it is no further
needed? This is a question posed by many saints. Let us give heed to
the principle of God’s dealing with us which is always that of “be it
done for you as you have believed” (Matt. 8.13). Often God wishes
to make His children well, but He has to let sickness remain with
them because of their unbelief and lack of prayer. If God’s saints
accede to sickness—nay, even welcome it—as though it would
deliver them from the world and make them holier, then the Lord can
do nothing except grant them what they ask. God frequently deals
with His own according to what they are able to receive. God may be
most delighted to cure them; yet for the lack of believing prayer this
precious gift is not the portion of all.
Are we wiser than God? Should we exceed what the Bible
reveals? While the sick room may at times be like a sanctuary where
the inner man is deeply moved, illness nonetheless is not God’s
ordained will nor is it His best. Should we follow our emotional
whim and disregard the revealed will of God, He can only let us have
what we desire. How many of the Lord’s people piously say: I leave
myself in God’s hand for healing or for sickness; I allow God to do
what He wills. But these are generally people who use medicine. Is
this committing everything to God? How contradictory is such a life!
Their submission is but a sign of spiritual lethargy. In their hearts
they long for health, but mere desire will not prompt God to work.
They have accepted sickness passively for so long that they simply
succumb to it, forfeiting all courage to seek freedom. The best for
them would be for other people to believe on their behalf or for God
to confer upon them the faith to believe. However, faith given by
God shall not come unless their will becomes active in resisting the
devil and in holding on to the Lord Jesus. Many are infirm not out of
necessity but for lack of strength to lay hold on God’s promise.