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For part of our military life, we were stationed in Alabama. While there, we attended a small Pentecostal church. One day an older couple that was traveling stopped in town. The wife had cancer and they were out of money, and she was extremely ill. The church had a small house next door and so they had the couple stay there. Hospice was called.

During that time, I would visit Mrs. Kelley and grew very fond of her. I would take food, blankets, and anything that I could which would help or bring a smile to her face. But I also prayed! I believed with all my heart that God was going to heal Mrs. Kelley. Things did not turn out “exactly” as I had believed.

The Word says, “and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter2:24) Then we find in Psalms 103:1- 5 that God heals all our diseases. Even when Jesus walked on the face of the earth he healed: “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.” (Matthew 4:23)

So, I asked myself, why was Mrs. Kelley not healed? I thought my faith was not strong enough or maybe there was something I should have done different. I really believed that she would be healed. God began to teach me about healing.

Healing takes place in different ways. We can have healing which takes time. It is a journey. People are not always healed instantly. A cold takes time, sometimes injuries take physical therapy or time for a bone to heal. The person gets healed, but it takes time. We can also have healing which are miraculous. A person is instantly healed. We see lots of miracles in the Word as the blind man was healed, the lame walk and more. However, the one I had not considered in the case of Mrs. Kelley was the forever healing. The one when we see Jesus’ face to face.

As soon as life leaves our bodies – as Christ Followers we are with God. 2 Corinthians 5:8, “we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” Mrs. Kelley was absolutely, healed! It took me time to understand and yes, I do miss her. But one day, I will see her again!

Yvette Perrin can be reached at theword2yvette@gmail.com.