For the last year or so, as a congregation, we have experienced the loss of members due to death. Whether expected after a long and pronounced illness, sudden and unexpected or because of a disease that was discovered diagnosed and deemed untreatable leading to a rapid decline that ultimately ended in death; death did occur. During these times, members sought the Lord in prayer for healing and a possible cure to their loved one’s condition. I write this perspective to help explain the difference between healing and curing. I write in order to assist those who are finding it difficult to deal with perceived unanswered prayer that led to the loss of their loved one.
“To cure,” means to restore to health, soundness, or normality. It means to correct a harmful or troublesome situation, to bring about recovery, or to rectify. On the other hand, healing is a quite different phenomenon. It too has multiple definitions, which include making sound or whole, to restore to health, to restore to a sound or normal state, and to mend. Both healing and curing means restoration to health, but the definition of healing mentions "making whole," this is not a feature of curing. Curing busies itself with situations or bits that have gone wrong, while healing seems to concentrate on the "wholeness". When we restore something to a sound or normal state, we do not necessarily have to restore it to its original state. This was the meaning behind the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Peter’s pronouncement that “By the wounds of Jesus, we are made whole.” In other words, through the work of Jesus in our lives, we are whole; enabling us to be brought back in right relationship with God. It means we are able to have eternal life with the Lord in a place of perfection, free from sin.
Too often, we mistake the work cure for healing and often we use them interchangeably. During defining moments in our loved ones lives, we don’t take the time to be grammatically or even spiritually correct in our attempt to connect with God who can do anything but fail. Nevertheless, we must remember, God’s will for our lives actually happens, even when we do not understand it. With God, our loved ones receive a cure and healing at the same time, provided we are able to transcend our carnality and see them as God sees them in the spiritual realm.
Healing therefore can take place in spite of illness or even death. In fact, before we leave this earthly life we will have to heal to some degree because in the spiritual realm, there is no discomfort and no pain. All is well, after we have passed on. Suffering has finished, and life is fine now, everything is "whole" again. Our greatest challenge is not to confuse our desire to keep our loved ones with us at the expense of God’s plan for their lives.
