God Likes to Work Through Human Hands

By Ken Laue

Art by Cathy Martin

Not to complain, nor to brag or bore you, but since fall of 2009 I have been through six heart procedures, three prostate hospitalizations, and one emergency room visit for severe bleeding after a routine test.
   So it was with considerable rejoicing that I celebrated two whole years of being out of the hospital and/or ER this past November, but to be honest, I haven’t been without my moments.

“Aren’t we the folks who believe in miracles of divine healing?” I lamented to God during one long, boring recovery. “Why, then, did You not reach down from Heaven, zap me, and heal me, God, but instead You made me obtain healing through doctors and technology?”

The thought He strongly impressed upon me at that moment was a revelation: “I love to move through human hands.”

Pastor Warner did a Sunday school series here at The Door in Tucson about Christians who are “cessationalists.” They believe that God doesn’t do miracles today as He did in the Bible; that these things have ceased.

Using one writer’s analogy regarding folks in an isolated area who believed that trains had ceased to exist because they didn’t arrive anymore at a defunct station nearby, Pastor Warner pointed out that when God does not do a quick, divine healing in every case, that doesn’t mean that the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and in particular the gift of healing, have ceased to be.

The Bible is full of instances in which human hands are used by God to do His work, such as in the laying on of hands for healing or for commissioning people, and the account of Jesus taking kids into His arms.

What about the cripple whose friends used their hands to get the roof off the building and lower their invalid buddy into Jesus’ view? Then Jesus healed the afflicted man. What about Moses’ faithful men holding up his arms with their hands so the praise and victory of God in the midst of battle could save the day? Or the boy handing his lunch over so Jesus could use it to feed thousands?

As I considered these, I began regarding with new appreciation not only the wonderful medical technology that saved my life, but the doctors as well. 

Just because God’s solution to my health emergencies is to send me to the doctors who He created and raised up does not mean that God has put healing miracles on the shelf.
  God Himself allows the human mind to discover and develop wonderful technological advances, and He rejoices over these discoveries and growth as any loving parent would.
   The heart procedures alone, without going into detail, were amazing technological miracles to me: threading a camera into my heart through arteries in my thigh, the medical team found and repaired the blockage all in one session.

I used to think only of how expensive doctors were, and how nice it must be to have a Mercedes or BMW to drive around.

But I don’t think like that anymore. Just to study to be a doctor requires a huge sacrifice – of time, energy, money, and your whole life.

My nephew, Rick, served in the Army, which in turn put him through medical school. He didn’t have to go through gigantic loan debt – but he did sacrifice six years of his life in service to his country.
   Today he has a successful family practice and his wife, Terri, is a gynecologist. But all this came at a great cost.

My cardiologist, Dr. Darren Peress, is an outstanding expert on the electro-physiology of the heart. He has cared for my heart arrhythmia, including my pacemaker installation.

When I see him he often has bags under his eyes, because – apart from the sacrifices made during his education – he can be called to the hospital emergency room to save a heart attack victim at any hour of the day or night.
   This is on top of seeing patients in the office, performing scheduled surgeries and procedures, and performing diagnostic tests.

While I do not know the religious affiliations of my doctors, I do know that someone or something had to put into a young person’s heart the dream of becoming a doctor.

Who but God puts dreams and visions inside people’s hearts, regardless of whether they know and acknowledge Him?

So, here’s my picture of God’s workings. He gifts a young person with a dream to become a doctor.
After long, hard hours and years of study, being raised up and gaining wisdom and experience in their field, He has them on hand on that very day when my life is in danger. He has them there at the moment of my crisis to rescue me.

To me, that smacks of a God thing.

I never got a divine jolt of an instant healing at the altar or elsewhere (at least, not that I am aware of). But God was in it all the way.

God used doctors and medical science to save my life, but I don’t believe divine miracles were only for Bible days.
   And I do believe that one tremendous blessing of being part of a Christian church family is the many brothers and sisters in Christ who pray for you at these times.

I have no doubt that the “air support” of the church brought protection over me as I fought my battles on the ground and, in at least two cases that I know of, my own prayers for divine healing have been answered for others in need.

One middle school girl at Faith Camp had her shoulder badly dislocated by well-meaning squad members who helped pull her through an obstacle course.

Mimi, a trauma/ER and medivac flight nurse, was talking damaged rotator cuffs and tendons, and said we should probably take her to an ER.

Our minds were still digesting the news when Mimi said something like: Hey, we’re all Christians here, let’s pray for her (duh)!
   So we did, and she was completely healed! I couldn’t believe it! I was all ready to start the van and take her down the mountain, but I put the keys back in my pocket.

I vividly remember that day!

Another time a co-worker was complaining of ongoing knee problems. I had witnessed to him a time or two before, and asked if I could pray for him.
   As I prayed, a big smile broke out on his face: all of a sudden, his knee felt great!

I checked back with him over the next few weeks, and the knee stayed healed. Praise God!

I believe sometimes God’s healing does not just come in an instant miracle, but in an overall influence that He creates.

For example, my retirement career as a school bus driver for Vail school district in Arizona requires a commercial driver’s license (CDL).
   During those two years or so of heart problems, I served instead as a bus aide or monitor, because strict federal laws govern the requirements for heart patients holding a CDL. One of those requirements is to have an annual physical, while normal CDL holders only have a physical every two years.

My cardiologist has to submit his test results to the doctor who does all the CDL physicals for the State of Arizona.

And that is where the victory report comes in.

Last year I met all the requirements and kept my license. No big deal.
   From time to time throughout the year, different brothers and sisters at church had asked me how I was doing and told me that they continued to pray for me.

This year in his letter, my cardiologist stated that my ejection fraction (the measure of how efficient the heart is as a pump moving blood through the system), was improved over last year.

In fact, he said it was equal to a normal man of my age.

Not only that, I had to do a treadmill stress test and achieve 6 “mets” without problems.

A met is a measure of your metabolism at rest, so 6 mets means you are working out at 6 times your resting energy output.
    Well, I did 7.9 mets, and could have gone higher, but they stopped me there, since I had exceeded the criteria.

Now, I would like to tell you this improvement is due to me religiously taking better care of myself – you know, always eating right, always getting enough exercise, always getting enough sleep – but I have my good and bad days in that area.
   The truth is that, besides taking my meds, I really can’t take the credit for this improvement.

But I do know for a fact I can credit the church members who were praying for me, because I believe it is their prayers for me that released God’s influence and healing grace over my life during the course of the year.

Isn’t it great to have a Bible-believing church family praying for you?

So, no. I’m not a cessationalist. I do believe that God still heals. Why God has never given me an instant divine healing that I am aware of, I can’t say, but I have seen His healing in action.

After seeing the girl at Faith Camp and my co-worker healed, I now believe in praying first thing, in case the Lord wants us to be a channel for His direct intervention. If He wants you to go to your doctor, He will show you.

The other thing I have concluded is that doctors and medical technology are intended to be gifts from Him to His people.

God loves to work through human hands, whether by doctors He has raised up, or by using you and me to touch others with our hands.