One of the biggest decisions we always face in the Kingdom of God is whether or not we will try to fix ourselves or let God do the fixing for us. Ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, we human beings have tried to find a way to fix ourselves. Jesus said however, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Therefore, trying to fix ourselves is contrary to the way things work in the Kingdom of God. He has a better way.
Suppose I find myself sick with cancer. For the most part, I can’t do anything about it. The only decisions I can make is whether or not to go to a doctor who can heal me. She diagnoses me. She prescribes a treatment plan. She tells me all the possibilities and what the treatment will mean for my life.
Let’s suppose this cancer is not just treatable, but curable. The only way for me to be healed is to subscribe to her diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment. Imagine I start discussing the treatment plan with her and trying to come up with other possibilities. I tell her that I think I can manage this thing on my own. Maybe heavy pain killers will work over chemo therapy and my body will somehow fight off the cancer.
This kind of reasoning is a recipe for disaster. I would certainly die. Most patients in this kind of situation simply tell the doctor to prescribe the treatment. Most of us would follow through with the chemo therapy and endure the side effects because we know the doctor would be saving our life.
The Kingdom of God is similar. When we enter the Kingdom, we enter a community of other believers who have the ability to heal us. Yes, it is God who does the healing, but He generally passes his knowledge and experience through other brothers and sisters.
Therefore, we seek out another person who can help us in our greatest areas of need. Most likely this person or persons should be one who has gone through the process of healing themselves. This is a spiritual mentor of some sort. Sometimes it is a professional counselor. Sometimes it is a spiritually mature brother or sister in the faith who can help us recognize our defects and help us remove them. We trust God and them to bring us through this process.
Do you have a spiritual mentor? Do you have a doctor? Or, are you trying to treat this cancer on your own?
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