When Curt was diagnosed with brain cancer, all of us were heartbroken. All except Curt, who stood tall and resolute. He told us God was in control. On the eve of the day the doctors would operate, our group of seven held a healing service in Curt’s home. I had never been part of something like this on such an intimate level, and from the outset I was tentative—not doubtful, just unsure. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that to you now, but I need to continue being transparent with you.
But I was still tentative, and here’s why. Out of the seven of us, I didn’t want to be the weak link. Even as Father Jim anointed Curt with oil on the very spot where the surgeon’s knife would cut in the morning, I trembled internally. Lord, don’t let my weak faith be a hindrance to Curt’s healing, I prayed.
After the surgery, we all continued to pray for Curt, and then came the news we all dreaded.
The surgery did not get all of the tumor, and the cancer was still spreading. The prognosis was not good. Curt was discharged and sent home, where his health steadily declined. We continued to pray but feared the worst.
A few weeks after his surgery, Karin and I went to see Curt, and I will never forget the feeling of walking into his home, his wife, Mary, ever strong beside him..
We greeted Curt, and then I blurted out a question I had not planned to ask at that moment, but I couldn’t help myself. In hindsight, it was probably a selfish inquiry meant to assuage my own guilt for possibly being the one person out of the seven who didn’t have enough faith to prompt God to heal my friend.
“Curt,” I asked quietly, “are you disappointed that God didn’t heal you?” My voice was shaking as I uttered those words. Instantly Curt straightened in his chair as best he could and looked at me intently.
“What are you talking about?”
he asked. Stunned by his response, I had no reply. Clearly Curt had not been healed. What was I missing?
Then the Lord, the same Lord who declared to the Israelites, “I am the one who heals you,” spoke through Curt, and the words were aimed directly at me. “God has healed me in ways you can’t even imagine,” he declared. “I don’t want you to worry about me. God is in control. All will be well.”
“This is how God has healed me. He is using my life to touch others with his love. As long as I live, I want God to use me.”
His words were prophetic. Over the next few weeks of Curt’s life, God used him to shine his love on dozens of people who visited him, even as the cancer continued to ravage his body. His memorial service, directed by Father Jim, was both mournful and filled with hope. The church was packed with several hundred people, many of them Curt’s professional colleagues, some no doubt hearing the gospel for the very first time.
Curt had indeed been healed, but not for this world. Curt experienced the healing we will all experience someday, the complete healing of body, soul, and spirit that will most assuredly come when we see our Savior face-to-face.
Taken from: The Healing Power of God, Copyright © 2021 by Stan Jantz. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, Oregon 97408. www.harvesthousepublishers.com