“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8 NIV, emphasis added). These verses say two things I’d like to highlight. First, “lean NOT on your OWN understanding” and secondly, “do not be wise in your own eyes.”
“Lean NOT on your own understanding” is key for us as we pursue healing. This means, don’t think you know it all and don’t rely on your own way of understanding something or explaining something. Does this mean we aren’t to seek understanding at all? No. It is good to seek understanding FROM THE LORD—to seek the Spirit of understanding Who is a facet of the Holy Spirit. Any understanding we are leaning on or trusting in, needs to come from the Spirit and NOT the world, Satan, or our own flesh. If we are not discerning DIVINE understanding, we must be careful not to default to our own and MOST importantly, not put the need to understand in a high place. Psalm 32:8-9 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you” (NIV). Seek the Spirit of understanding. The Lord wants you to understand, but we may need to be patient with ourselves as we seek Him for answers.
There was a lady the Lord brought to me who had multiple types of cancer in her body—who had been fighting different cancers for many years. Some cancers she had victory over, but others she didn’t. When I met her, she had lost all hope of surviving; the doctors had exhausted all protocols and had advised her to begin to plan a move to hospice. We’ll call her Lois (not her real name). Lois felt she knew and understood why she had so much cancer in her body.
Lois had worked in agriculture beginning at a young age, in the greenhouses, tending to tomatoes and vegetables grown in our local area. Back in the day, they didn’t know that pesticides were harmful to our health, so they didn’t think anything about handling it with their bare hands and breathing it in as it wafted in a cloud above their heads. Knowing what we know now in the world about pesticides, it made perfect logical sense to her that she had cancer. And it probably makes perfect natural sense to you too IF we are just thinking in terms of the natural worldly realm. But as I prayed for her, God gave me His wisdom and understanding of the situation which is other worldly: “These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages. They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and IF THEY DRINK ANYTHING POISONOUS, IT WON’T HURT THEM. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed” (Mark 16:17-18 NLT, emphasis added). This verse does NOT mean that we can intentionally do unwise things like pick up venomous snakes, drink poison, inhale poison or handle poison with our bare hands and survive, but it DOES mean we can do these things accidently, without our knowledge or with the Lord’s prior direction and expect God to protect us from harm. This is God’s Word and promise to us. I shared this truth with my friend, Lois, but because of her immaturity as a Christian, she struggled to believe what I was telling her; she defaulted to her own understanding rather than the Lord’s.
Even though the Word of God flies in the face of what we think we know on this earth, the Word of God is TRUTH. The beliefs of the world are facts, but those facts are not eternal; they change on a dime, and they are NOT truth. The question is, “What will we believe? What belief or understanding will we decide is higher and more important to us? God’s understanding/perspective or the world’s?” So, if you think you know why you are ill, if you have your own understanding of the cause of your illness, I implore you to be willing to let it go and let God give you His understanding/perspective instead.
Why do you think we, as God’s people, can escape threats in the world like venomous snake bites or harm caused by poisonous substances? Because we are “set-apart” ones. We are Glory carriers; we carry the very presence of God within us. When we repent and turn to God, we are spiritually translated from the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of Light immediately and we become CITIZENS of heaven as soon as we believe and surrender; “But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior” (Philippians 3:20 NLT). We are IN the world but no longer OF the world. “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:19 NIV, emphasis added).
I was born in Canada. Naturally in the world, this means I am a citizen of Canada; I abide by the laws of Canada and the laws of Canada govern my life. I enjoy the privileges of being a Canadian citizen and my citizenship dictates my obligations and my freedoms in the world. However, now that I’m a disciple of Christ, the Bible tells me that I have become a citizen of heaven and with it comes a whole different set of obligations and TRUE freedoms that supersede any others. I am no longer of the world; I have been re-born as a supernatural spiritual being who carries the very presence of God within her, which gives me access to heaven’s realities now. My citizenship in heaven supersedes my citizenship in Canada. As a result, HEAVEN NOW GOVERNS MY LIFE instead of Canada or the world. If you’re a disciple of Christ, the same is true of you. We can expect, as a citizen of heaven, to see the realities of heaven, such as righteousness and supernatural protection, to manifest in our lives here and now.
As believers and Glory carriers, we can expect to have a very different experience of the world than other people, who are BOTH IN and OF the world. We can expect to flourish financially, even though the world around us is going through a financial crisis. We can expect to experience great light in our lives, even though the rest of the world is experiencing gross darkness. All we need to do is read Psalm 91 to see the benefits of living as a citizen of heaven, in the shelter of the Most-High God:
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you” (Psalm 91:1-7 NLT).
This does not mean that life will be perfect, as we are still in the world. Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble. . .,” but this type of trouble is not speaking of sickness and disease; this type of trouble is persecution, rejection, offense, the temptation to be angry, bitter and the like.
“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT). Let’s allow God to change our thinking from a worldly perspective and understanding to HIS perspective and understanding, in all things. For example, someone with type 2 diabetes may think, “I have type 2 diabetes because I didn’t watch my diet.” What they’re really saying is, “I got what I deserved.” But the Bible says, God’s mercies are new every morning and what is mercy? Mercy is NOT getting what you deserve! Jesus died so God could show us unmerited mercy and favor! So, let’s elevate our thinking and realize God is SO good, He DOESN’T give us what we deserve. Let’s allow ourselves to receive His extravagant mercy by coming out of agreement with our natural worldly understanding of why we might be sick. Let’s NOT lean on our OWN understanding but allow God to give us His!
The second tidbit of direction we get from Proverbs 3:5-8 that will bring health to our body and nourishment to our bones is, “do not be wise in your own eyes.” There was a guy in the Old Testament by the name of Job who struggled with being wise in his own eyes and suffered dearly for it. This may surprise you as it surprised me, but the New King James Version says in Job 32:1, “So these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes” (emphasis added). The New Living Translation says, “Job’s three friends refused to reply further to him because he kept insisting on his innocence” (Job 32:1). But Job was NOT innocent! In fact, Job 34:7-9 says, “Tell me, has there ever been a man like Job, with his thirst for irreverent talk? He chooses evil people as companions. He spends his time with wicked men. He has even said, ‘Why waste time trying to please God’” (NLT)? However, we can’t have this discussion without also addressing Job 1:1, can we? I know there is someone out there quoting it verbatim, right now.
Job 1:1 says, “There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz. He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil” (NLT). This appears to be a contradiction to Job 34:7-9, but let me ask you this, “Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who was dead wrong, but vehemently INSISTED they were right and despite what you said, you couldn’t convince them otherwise?” Yes? And I would bet that since you couldn’t convince them, the ONLY option was to agree that they were right with a condition for them to prove themselves. Some people simply can’t be convinced of their fault; the only way to get through to them is to allow Satan to sift them. This is how God had to deal with Job. God in effect said, “Okay Job. Yup, you’re sinless. You’re innocent. But now let’s prove it.” Job 1:1 narrates how Job was seen in the world and how Job saw himself, but NOT what was actually true of his heart. God saw deeper, so He put Job to the test, and exposed what was really there.
I say all this about Job to simply say, “Don’t be like Job!” Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Don’t be puffed up in pride as “pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18 NLT).
In summary, be humble. Seek God’s understanding and don’t nullify the miracle of mercy and healing by thinking you know better than God. Let go of all your reasonings, arguments, and understandings that are worldly, rational, intellectual, logical, and carnal. Sometimes, we know too much, and our knowledge gets in the way of our miracle; command your carnal mind to submit to the Lord and the ways of the Kingdom of God.
Allow me to suggest praying something like this: “Father God, thank you that I am your son/daughter. I repent for leaning on my own understanding Lord and I repent for regarding my understanding superior to yours. I also repent God for pride and a haughty spirit. Please forgive me God. Thank you that when I confess my sin to you, you are faithful to forgive and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Thank you that my citizenship is first and foremost in Heaven and I can enjoy the benefits of that citizenship right here, right now. I surrender to you God, every thought and argument in my carnal mind that explains my illness and convinces me that this is “normal” and “acceptable.” I renounce the lie that I am ill because. . . (I am old, I ate too much, I didn’t exercise, I was irresponsible/foolish etc.) and I choose to forgive myself for the dumb things I have done, for not using wisdom and for any and all mistakes, bad decisions, and misguided steps. Right now, God, I receive your mercy and the benefits of heaven, like unmerited favor, forgiveness, and redemption by the blood of Jesus, which allow me to BYPASS the negative outcomes of the world and the negative consequences of sin and bad decisions in my life. I thank you Lord that your rescue plan for my life is complete and a done deal and I CAN expect it to manifest now, this side of eternity. I renounce pride and I surrender my understanding to you God. I surrender my intellect, my logic, and all my reasonings to you God and I receive my healing from you, right now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
We CAN escape the consequences of our dumb decisions and unwise actions! Consider the parable of the Prodigal Son beginning at Luke 15:11; the prodigal son made some of the dumbest decisions ever and when he came back home to his father, there were no consequences for him to bear. He was received back into his father’s house with all the benefits of sonship. There was no probation period. Nothing was withheld from him. There was not even any disciplinary action when he returned. . . only a celebration of epic proportions. This parable was told to illustrate to us, those in the Kingdom of God, that even after we mess up, the Father receives us back to His home and into His arms, with mercy, grace, FULL restoration, and extravagant blessing. Receive it today!