Cancer has touched my life about 5 times. Not me directly, but people close to me, people that I would consider not just friends but family. Just this last week we found out that it has happened again.
Pastor Robert and Karyn Barriger from Lima Peru, just found out that Karyn has an aggressive form of breast cancer. The doctors are very hopeful, in fact Karyn’s doctor (who happens to be the Surgeon General of Peru) has said that he thinks they can get rid of the cancer with aggressive treatment. We are really standing with Robert and Karyn, believing that not only will this cancer go away, but that this will make a huge impact on the country of Peru, as they witness God’s power in Karyn’s treatment and healing.
This news has reminded me of something that I dealt with earlier this year, and am still dealing with. A few years ago I had a friend, a very close friend, that was diagnosed with cancer. He has literally been fighting for his life for years. In the process, this friend has lost his faith in God. That has been very hard for me since he was very influential in my life as far as my relationship with God. Last year, another friend of mines wife was suddenly diagnosed with cancer.
The difference between this friend is that he and his wife are pastors of a very successful church. My friend who lost his faith is still fighting for his life. My other friend, the pastor, lost his wife earlier this year.
What really bothered me about this was not just the fact that these are my friends, but how biased I became in my prayer for them. For my friend the pastor, I went into real spiritual warfare. I fasted, I prayed, I wept, I declared healing over her body. For my friend who has lost his faith, without realising, I began to pray for his return to Christ. I prayed that he would realise his error and repent. Praying for his healing became an after thought, a prayer I would quickly say at the end of my prayer time.
When my friend the pastor lost his wife I was sad. It was hard for me to understand how this could happen with everyone who was praying. But when I stepped back, and listened to God. I was no longer just sad. I was also broken.
Jesus never showed bias toward those he touched and healed. In fact he told us not to be very care full about showing favor to one person or another. Just because one of my friends lost his faith and one was a pastor, it does not change the power of God. In fact if you study the people that Jesus healed, most of them were healed before they believed.
Isaiah 59:1 says : “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.”
There is nothing that we can do to limit the power of God. God is God no matter what we think or do. But we can limit the power of God in our lives, and that starts in our thinking.
In my mind, I gave God only so much power. I thought, if He is going to heal someone, it is probably going to be the pastors wife, not my friend who lost his faith. I think for me, this issue and many others that we might think, talk or argue about really can be boiled down to one question: I either believe God and his word or not. He is either ALL powerful, or not at all.
Hopefully in the future, when I am faced with a choice between what I think God can or can’t do or who he can or cannot touch, I will remember this.
Please pray for Robert and Karyn Barriger, their family and their church.
Also pray for my other friend, that he would be healed.
