Why Was It Easier for Me to Get Healed When I Was a Baby Christian?
God often answers the prayers of young Christians in dramatic ways to encourage them, just as an earthly parent helps his youngsters in ways in which he won’t help them when they grow older. You could probably get praise from your parents at one point in your life just by smiling and saying, “Ga-ga, goo-goo.” However, you would probably not get any smiles if you did that today. They expected you to grow up, and so does God.
God does not love baby Christians any more than He loves mature ones. The babies need more support and encouragement. God provides that and His Body is to provide it too. However, part of maturing in Christ is learning to believe God’s Word and receive things by faith on your own. If you don’t develop that, the time will come when getting things won’t be as easy. It’s like a parent telling a child, “I expect you to clean your room before you get any privileges.” The parent of a 2-year-old would probably grant privileges without such a prerequisite, but the parent of a 13-year-old would probably not. It would be reasonable to expect the 13-year-old to do something himself rather than sit around going, “Ga-ga, goo-goo.”
Unfortunately, many people have this experience when they let their zeal for God taper off as they get older in the Lord. They “coast” on their past experiences with God but don’t pray as much, so they don’t have as many new experiences. Ignorance is not bliss for a Christian. You cannot continue to get a spiritual baby bottle by refusing to grow up. At some point the bottle will stop whether you’re ready to lose it or not, just as it would for a natural child. That is because you are not just accountable for what you know – you are accountable for what you have the reasonable opportunity to know if you apply yourself. If you don’t know the Word because you just got saved, God will have mercy on you. If you don’t know the Word because you let your Bible collect dust for the last year, you can’t expect God to treat you the same way that He would treat a new believer who doesn’t know the Word.
Many times, we let the things slip that were (and should still be) our mainstays: Spending time with God, reading the Bible, fellowshipping with other believers, and sharing the gospel with sinners. It’s possible to let these things slip, and it’s important not to do so. It should not be harder to get healed now than it used to be. However, you may have to make a stronger stand against contradictory symptoms in your body. God expects more faith from you as you get older.
This is why some healing ministers have noted that unbelievers and young Christians often get healed dramatically by gifts of the Spirit in healing services while mature believers don’t. Although God is merciful, His perfect will for the believer is to be healed through simple faith in Christ’s sacrifice, not through gifts of the Spirit. It can be more “fun” to minister to people who are not saved who are willing to come out to a meeting than it is to minister to Christians who won’t give God’s Word a prominent place in their lives.
It takes more strength to lift a 50-pound weight than it does to lift a 5-pound weight. (That’s 22.68 kilograms and 2.27 kilograms for those of you in metric countries.) However, it is easier for you to lift a 50-pound weight than it is for a toddler to lift a 5-pound weight because your muscles are more developed and you’ve grown to be able to handle more weight. Therefore, even though it takes more force, it is not harder. Healing should be the same way. If you have to receive 100% by faith instead of having God meet you halfway in His mercy, it should still be as easy for you.
One more thing – check on what you really believe about healing. Plenty of Christians have heard so much nonsense on the subject that their minds are confused and it is hard for them to receive healing. See the discussion, Do You Really Believe in Healing?