Day 486 - October 14 - How do I know?

The other day, one of our members asked me a question. It deserves an answer (and also gives me a chance to talk about my favorite topic), so I wanted to devote a bit of time to it. Here's her question -

I don't know how to ask this question without appearing insensitive or rude, but....why do you think God will heal Connor specifically?

Doesn't our friend, who has a strong Christian faith and family, also, deserve isn't the correct word, but some how qualify, for God's intervention? What about the millions of other Christians who believe in God and His ability to heal, who are also patiently or impatiently pleading to God for restoration and relief from the burden of a SCI?

So, here goes. Why do I think God will heal Connor specifically? Well, I don't know that what I am doing is "thinking" that Connor will be healed. Before you cry "that's just semantics", let me 'splain. There are really four words in English that are often used interchangeably when we talk about faith, primarily because the language doesn't really have good words for what it is we mean. So sometimes we say that we "think" something, sometimes we say we "hope" something, sometimes we say we "believe" something, and sometimes we say we "know" something. And we use them like they mean the same thing, but they don't, not really. Let me try to give you some examples so you see what I mean:

I "think" that someday humans will go to Mars - not a strongly-held feeling, just looking at the available evidence and reaching a conclusion.

I "hope" the Cubs will win a World Series in my lifetime - not much evidence of this, but it's possible.

I "believe" Christ is preparing a place for us, where we will spend eternity in the very presence of The Living God - Scripture says so. I have satisfactorily demonstrated to myself that the Bible's claim to be the living, breathing word of God is true, I accept that what it says about our relationship with God is true, and so I believe that what it says about the future is true as well.

I "know" that my wife won't divorce me, because I know her as a person through long exposure, I know her integrity, I feel her love. I base my knowledge of her future actions on my relationship with her and on my understanding of her character.

So, four different ways of expressing my view of what the future holds, see?

All of which doesn't explain why I feel about Connor's restoration the way I do. And the answer is wrapped up in all four of these things, and based on God's word to me as expressed in the Scripture. Let me say this - my faith is not that Connor will walk again. It is that God is, and MUST be, faithful to His word. And His word tells me how to act as I pray for things, and promises - PROMISES - certain things. Now I've gone over this before, and I hope y'all don't get tired of hearing it, because I don't get tired of talking about it - God expects me to pray in a certain fashion, and it's not "Thy will be done". Instead, it's "pray, believing that you've received it, and it shall be done for you". That's Mark 11:24, just for the record. "IT SHALL BE DONE FOR YOU". So, taking Him at His word, I pray, and I'm doing everything I can in the face of all of medical science to believe that I have already received it, and that my God will be faithful to His word and restore my son.

Now, you say that other people pray and they still suffer from things like SCI, and that much is true. But neither of us can effectively judge whether they pray in this fashion, or whether they believe that they've received already, or anything, for that matter. All I can tell you is that God, in order to actually BE God, MUST be true to His own word. He must! And I know He will do so. So I pray.

I think that part of the problem with faith is that I don't know Christ well enough. Take a look at Acts 3:1-8. This is a record of an act performed by an illiterate fisherman who, during the course of the previous few years had tried to usher in the earthly kingdom of God by chopping off somebody's ear with a sword, but who then had immediately run away and deserted the man he claimed he loved, then later cowered from a young girl and denied even knowing his master. This man takes one look at a crippled man and says "get up and walk", and the guy does. Not some special guru with all sorts of spiritual enlightenment, but rather Peter - ol' "foot in your mouth" Peter - speaks with power and authority from heaven. What made this fisherman into such an authority? Exposure to Christ. He didn't have any special power in himself, he only relied on Christ's power. And he knew Christ so well that he was absolutely sure that Christ would glorify Himself through Peter when he pointed his finger at that man and told him to pick up his mat. That's amazing to me.

I don't know Christ that well. Connor doesn't know Christ that well. But I believe, trusting in the word of God, that it is possible for me to know Him that well. For me - and you - to know Christ so well that our faith in Him literally moves with power in this world. It has to be able to do so, in order for God's word to be true. So I endeavor to know Christ more. Not so I can mumble some magic words and my boy will get up, but so that He is brought more glory through me, through my family, through my son. I can't imagine a better way for God to glorify Himself in this situation than to raise Connor up, so that's what I ask for.

There's another aspect of this as well - how do I pray? Do I pray with confidence, or do I pray begging and pleading for a handout? I'll ask you - how does God tell us to approach Him? Boldly, that's how. Not in repetition, but with power. Do you pray that way? Do I? I believe that I'm supposed to interact with Him. Not just do some rote recitation of my son's needs. But it's really easy to slip into repeating the same thing mindlessly. I end up not being focused on the individual I'm allegedly interacting with, and so I miss my mark of communing with Him. And when I miss my mark, am I communicating with Him?

Now that brings another question - how will I know if the answer's not "yes"? First, I believe the answer is "yes", so I'm not too worried about other possibilities. But how would I know? The only response to that is "I'll know". I'll know just the same way that I knew I was being spoken to by Him back in 1992, when I received very clear words about Connor's impact on his generation. I'll know the same way I know that last month, in a quiet moment at church, He told me to continue to wait on Him. I'll know. I continue to believe that God will heal my son. I continue to pray for his full restoration. So far, the only answer I KNOW I've received is "wait".

Which brings me hope. Why would you tell your son "wait" if you were going to answer "no" eventually? God delights to give His children good things. God works all things together for good for those who love Him.This is who He is! I may not know God well, but I know Him enough to know He is trustworthy. With the evidence laid out in front of me, how can I NOT believe Connor will walk again?

I can't wait!

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