Works vs Grace | Balancing Grace + Faith for Healing (Pt 2)
Let’s move on in our discussion of balancing faith and grace. If you missed part 1 in this series, go back and check it out. It’s a quick 3-minute read.
On your faith-based healing journey, it’s important to understand how God’s grace fits into your story. We know that God isn’t withholding healing from you. So how can you develop faith for healing when you trust but don’t see results?
When prayer “fails,” many people will seek out faith principles, laws and the science of neuroplasticity for answers. The brain science about how faith works on a neuroplastic level is amazing, but it’s all too easy to get stuck in a ditch and make Christ of no effect (Galatians 5:4).
Falling from grace, you may start using your own willpower and rule keeping to heal. And you can end up in chains, always having to keep yourself in check, holding yourself together through your efforts to “stay in faith.” Trust me, I’ve been there. It’s bondage. And we’re coming back under “law.”
So now what? You're doing all the “right” things: meditating on the Word, visualizing yourself healthy, taking your thoughts captive, worshiping, reading the Bible, watching sermons, keeping your mind from things that corrupt right thinking, etc.
You’ve seen improvement but as soon as you stop these things, you notice a decline. Or you feel scared that you’ll go backwards. Or you feel condemned about wanting to take a break. Maybe you feel like a failure because you think you lack commitment.
You’re so exhausted from trying to heal and follow Jesus that you just want to give up. But you know Jesus is the answer! Help!
The solution: a deeper revelation of God’s grace to balance you back out.
Have you ever had someone tell you Jesus already healed you 2,000 years ago and you just need to start thanking Him for it? Has that frustrated you? (Yeah, me too!)
It’s true what Jesus has done, but in order for your gratitude to be fruitful, you need a deeper revelation of what He did on the cross. Thanking Jesus without sincerity doesn’t reach your heart. It’s just another formula to try and follow.
But don’t be disheartened. Jesus is the answer, and we’ll get to that more in the next post as we gain a deeper understanding of grace and faith.