We should not think that we are wiser than God or that we can act beyond what the Bible reveals. Even though the sickroom may sometimes feel like a sanctuary, and everyone who enters may be touched by the atmosphere, this is not God's ordained will and not God's best. If we act according to our emotion and ignore God's revelation, He can only allow us to walk as we please. Many believers say, "No matter what happens, I will commit myself to God's hand. Whether I get well, or whether I remain sick, I will let God make the decision for me, and I will let Him deal with me as He pleases." But very often, we see these people resorting to medicine at the same time. Is this what one does when he commits everything into God's hand? In seeking after God's healing, they put the responsibility in God's hand, and in seeking after man's healing, they resort to medicine all the same. This is too contradictory. The fact is that many believers have lost their willpower through their prolonged period of bed rest. They can no longer hold onto God's promise. Their submission is actually a kind of spiritual laziness. They desire to be healthy, but this desire will not cause God to do any work on them. Many believers have become passively resigned to their illness for a long time; they have grown habitually sick and have no boldness to seek freedom. They would rather have others believe for them or have God give them faith and make them believe apart from their own effort. However, unless their will is motivated, and unless they resist the devil and hold onto the Lord Jesus, the God-given faith will not come. Many patients do not have to be sick; they are sick because they do not have the strength to claim God's promises.

We must realize that the spiritual blessings that we receive in sickness are far less than the spiritual blessings we gain in restoration. If, through trusting in God and consecrating ourselves to Him, we are healed, we should continue to live a holy life after our restoration. Only this will maintain us in a healthy state. By healing us in this way, the Lord gains our body. This joy is unspeakable. Yet this joy comes not because we are healed, but because we have a new relationship with our Lord. We have a new experience of Him and receive new contact and new life from Him. At such times, God is glorified much more than when a believer is sick.

Therefore, God's children should rise up and seek healing. First we should go before the Lord and listen to what He wants to speak to us through our sickness. Next we should walk with a single heart according to what He has revealed to us. Finally we should put our body wholeheartedly into His care and consecrate our body to Him. If there are elders of the church who can anoint with oil (James 5:14-15), we should invite them to come and let them follow the injunction of the Bible. Otherwise, we should remain in calmness and exercise our faith to hold onto God's promise (Exo. 15:26). God will heal us.