Matthew 15:30-31 -- On Healing and Faith

"And great multitudes came unto him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed, and many others, and cast them down at Jesus’ feet; and he healed them:
Insomuch that the multitude wondered, when they saw the dumb to speak, the maimed to be whole, the lame to walk, and the blind to see: and they glorified the God of Israel."
Matthew 15:30-31


Both here and in an event in Third Nephi (3 Nephi 17:7-9) Jesus heals everyone they bring to him. The physical healing is of course miraculous and astounding from our perspective... in some cases during Christ's ministry, he healed ailments that doctors don't yet know how to heal, and in other cases, the healing was immediate, unlike the long therapy that would be required after surgery.

In the later account Christ mentions that the faith of the people to be healed is a significant factor in this, and I think that is something that is worth working on... not just if we have a significant physical malady, but in Hosea 14:4 and D&C 112:13 it seems to say that God can also heal our backsliding, and that conversion can lead to healing... so he promises us spiritual and mental healing as well.

Faith is hard.  Just knowing that sometimes people aren't going to be healed until after this life makes us wonder if our challenges are things that we can overcome.  Maybe the point here is to have faith that God has the ability and the willingness to heal us, but also to have faith in God's timing.  Doesn't mean we shouldn't ask for what we want... only that we need to defer to his wisdom.

Either way, the first step in faith is pouring our hearts out to God and asking for what we want.  Maybe we'll be like the father in Mark 9:24 who said "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." But even there, God had compassion and healed his child.  Part of faith is practice--listening to the Spirit, following the Spirit's promptings.  As we do, we'll gain confidence in spiritual things, including miracles.  Another thing to try is observation.  If we pay attention, there are a lot of miraculous things around us each day, and the Spirit can point those out to us and show us the wonder of God's hand in the world around us.

Today, let's ask God to help us strengthen our faith, and request the healing we need, whether for a bad back, a stiff neck, or a hard heart. :)