DEAR REV. GRAHAM: I think I'll stop taking some of the medicines I'm on, because I think God has maybe healed me. Hasn't He promised to heal us if we just have enough faith? That's what someone I heard once on television said.
-- J.G.N.
DEAR J.G.N.: I'm not a doctor, of course, nor do I know your exact medical situation, but I strongly urge you not to risk jeopardizing your health by going against the advice of your doctors. They have the ability to evaluate your true situation, and you should thank God for their skills and their wisdom.
After all, it's wrong to assume that medicine and faith are necessarily opposed to each other, or that illness is only the result of a lack of faith. We live in a sin-infested, fallen world, and as a result we're all subject to sickness and death. Only in heaven will all sin and illness be banished (see Revelation 21:4).
No one in the Bible had a stronger faith than the Apostle Paul; he has rightly been called the greatest Christian who ever lived. Yet at times Paul was assailed by physical problems and illnesses, and even when he prayed for God to take them away, it didn't always happen. He discovered, instead, that God could use them to make him trust God more completely, and as a result become spiritually stronger. He wrote, "For when I am weak, then I am strong" (2 Corinthians 12:10).
Don't misunderstand me; at times God can intervene and bring healing, and we should pray that He will. But most of all, make sure your faith and trust are in Christ. Then ask God to help you become more like Jesus, "rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith... and overflowing with thankfulness" (Colossians 2:7).
Write to Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1 Billy Graham Parkway, Charlotte, N.C. 28201 or visit the website at
billygraham.org
Food on 08/26/2015