The Mirror of the Word and other works by C.E. White can be purchased on her website, cewhitebooks.com or on Amazon

“The men who were blind came up to him, and Jesus said to them, ‘Do you believe that I am able to do this?’ They said to him, ‘Yes, Lord.’ Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘It shall be done for you according to your faith.’”

—Matthew 9:28–29

Many would take this verse to mean if we have enough faith, we will definitely be healed, and God will remove any difficulty in our lives.

But this mindset doesn’t consider the “yet not my will but yours” spoken as Jesus prayed that his cup of suffering be removed (Luke 22:42).

And we can’t forget the “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7–10) God left in Paul’s life for the good of his character.

There’s a tension between believing but not expecting, between trusting without demanding, between confidence in God’s goodness yet knowing that goodness may not fix every problem in this life.

In his all–knowing wisdom, God ordains which of our sufferings remain for our own good, as Paul’s thorn, or the good of others, as Jesus’s death.

The Word makes it clear we will struggle (1 Peter 4:12); every illness won’t be healed, nor every difficulty removed.

We must, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, know that God “is able to rescue us,” but also that “even if he does not,” we will not turn away from him (Daniel 3:17–18).

We must, like Esther, say, “If I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16).

We must, like Job, say, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (Job 13:15).

Our faith is faith in him and him alone that will result in our eternal healing. It trusts that he can heal us but is not dependent upon him doing so.

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