James 5:14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
Whether this passage is speaking of physical ailments and or spiritual despondency, medicinal or ceremonial application of oil, this passage cannot mean that every time the elders gather and pray, that an individual will escape a life-threatening predicament by miraculous or even gradual healing.
Not only would this understanding of the passage fly in the face of every biblical condition that is placed on answered prayer, such as James 4:15 "If it is the Lord’s will, we will live…"
It would also mean that the world would be jam-packed with very old Christians and God’s appointment book would be filled with erasure marks where there had been memos regarding joyful encounters that he had planned. In our grief, I think we may even miss the emphasis that should be placed on a passage like…
Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perish, and no-one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no-one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. 2 Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
God does our loved ones a favor, does what is best for them, when he takes them home, despite the fact that we are left in this place known as “the land of the shadow of death.” Isaiah 9:2
Neither can James mean that the faith of the elders was insufficient to bring about healing or else Paul would have assumed responsibility here:
2 Timothy 4:20 …I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.
Philippians 2:27 Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow.
What do we do if it is God’s will that we suffer loss, we fight to endure and continue…
1 Peter 4:19 So then, those who suffer according to God‘s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
1 Peter 3:17 It is better, if it is God‘s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
We are responsible to believe and endure and persevere with the grace God provides that comes in the form of emotional and spiritual joy which is our strength. God provides daily as we wait on him. May he increase our faith and may we remain faithful.
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I have gone through suffering that felt totally unbearable at the time. I questioned God and I began to have a hard time entering into praise and worship...which was unusual for me. Then I realized how incredibly ungrateful I was being toward what God had done for me. He suffered and died for me so that I could one day have everlasting peace in His presence. How could I possibly expect even that let alone anything more from a God who owes me nothing? When God responds to even our smallest request we should be in total awe and wonder, questioniung why...not when He does not.
Suffering?...worship Him with abandon...that is what you are made for, you will feel at home there.
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