Be an Agent of Healing

Please read Leviticus 4-6 and Acts 14 if you're interested in reading through the Bible in a year.

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" -Acts 14:11 (NIV)

When I was diagnosed with cancer, someone from a church I previously served recommended that I get Dr. Barbara Murphy as my oncologist. I called to make an appointment with her only to be told that she was not currently accepting new patients. As I had prayed about this important decision, I felt certain that Dr. Murphy was supposed to be my oncologist. So I called back. I told the receptionist that I was a person of faith, that I had been praying, and that I felt certain that Dr. Murphy was to be my doctor. I asked her to tell this to Dr. Murphy. If she still felt like she couldn't accept me as a patient, I'd accept it, but if she would accept me, I'd be most grateful. After telling Dr. Murphy my story, she agreed to take me on as a patient. And I must say that she has been a blessing.

The quality that I have appreciated most about Dr. Murphy is that she has always seemed to know when what I needed most was a hug and when what I needed most was a swift kick in the behind. She has always been able to just look at me and see what was most appropriate in that particular moment. Folks, I don't think they teach that in medical school. I believe that such a quality is a gift from God.

Paul seems to have had that quality too. In the scripture lesson for today, Paul encounters a lame man who had been that way since birth. Paul looks at him and somehow senses exactly what is going on inside him and exactly what he needs.

God uses Paul as an agent of healing and the man who had never walked jumps up and begins to walk (I bet he skipped). When the crowd sees what happened, they quickly conclude that "the gods have come down to us in human form," that Paul is some divine miracle worker. Paul corrects them, saying that he is very much human and simply an agent through whom God has chosen to work.

I understand why the people said what they said about Paul. When I think about how incredibly awesome Dr. Murphy is, I'm tempted to give her all the credit for her part in ridding my body of cancer. And yet I know that, as incredibly awesome as she is, Dr. Murphy is simply an agent through whom God has brought healing.

May God grant you the grace to know exactly what's going on inside someone else’s life today and may God use you as an agent through whom healing takes place.