From the very beginning the enemy has attempted to entice us into unbelief and sin with the suggestion that God is somehow hesitant to give us something good (see Gen 3:5). This is still one of his primary strategies today. Many times I have faced a need for God’s goodness expressed in healing for myself or someone I love and been plagued with the nagging doubt about whether God wants to heal.

“God is in control. If you’re sick, he must have some purpose in it.”

“You know, he doesn’t heal everyone. You can’t really expect him to heal you.”

“You don’t really think you have enough faith to receive something like that from God do you?”

Thoughts like this have a certain odor to them, and a definite weight. They push down upon your sense of strength and can make it so hard to breathe in and out through the normal rhythms of simple asking and receiving.

Matthew 8:2-3
2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” 3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.(NKJV)

We seldom doubt that God “can” heal us. We, like the leper, simply struggle with whether he “will” heal us. In this same situation, though willing to embrace the leper’s question, I wonder if we’re also willing to hear Jesus’ response? There are three primary reasons we might find it difficult to really hear Jesus say “I am willing.” To each, the proper response is repentance.

First, there’s the issue of theological bias. Entire segments of the Body of Christ have taught for years that “Jesus used to be willing but he’s not anymore.” This obstacle is easy to overcome with a quick glance at scripture and some basic repentance. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Heb 13:8, ESV)

Second, there’s the barrier of past disappointment. When you’ve prayed and not experienced God’s healing power, painful disappointment can reinforce the idea that maybe Jesus just isn’t really in the healing business anymore. But does what we haven’t experienced have the authority to set the standard for what we believe is true about God’s character? If we find that our experience has been given this kind of inordinate authority, the proper response is repentance.

Third, there’s the obstacle of inaccurate valuation of both self and the cross. Some find it easy to believe Jesus is willing to heal others but they’re unable to personally align with that truth simply because they don’t believe they’re worthy of that kind of love. This is merely an argument with God.  He has deemed you worthy of great sacrifice. Motivated by his valuation of your worth, he has given himself to make you worthy, and in his sacrifice has provided not only for your cleansing, but for your freedom from every grief and sickness. This obstacle masquerades as humility but in reality it is a direct attack on the sufficiency of Jesus’ death on the cross.

Again, the proper response in the face of this challenge is repentance. At times we find that our heart cries out with the leper “If you’re willing…Jesus’ response to the leper is still his response to us today. “I am willing.” Are you willing to hear it? If you’ve identified something that’s in the way of hearing Jesus say this to you, are you willing to surrender to God in the process of repentance?