You are healed

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed,” 1 Peter 2:24

Cancer? I don’t accept that.

I recently visited my cousin at the hospital where he was waiting for test results to see if the lymph nodes in his stomach were cancerous. Although it was a serious situation and setting, it didn’t feel that serious. We were all sure that it wasn’t cancer. He even spoke about it like it wasn’t a thing.

We joked about the huge shorts and red tighty-whiteys his little brother brought him from home, as the hospital bed kept pantsing him.

And of course, like a typical Hispanic family, we were the loudest on the floor. His neighbor was an older man who seemed weak and was very pale. His wife was serious and kept giving us the death-stare whenever we laughed with each other.

My aunt was nervous, we could tell. She joked with us but seemed distracted. There were many comical moments, like the nurse bumping her butt against my mother on the other side of the curtain or about my other cousin’s confusion on where to put the fan because my aunt kept yelling at her, “I don’t know where she wants me to put this,” she told me cousin in panic.

But after the laughs I asked my cousin “So how do you feel about all this? Are you hopeful? Do you feel positive and sure of the results?” He rolled his eyes and sucked his teeth “Hell yeah,” he said. “I know it’s not cancer, I’m just waiting for them to tell me that.” “Good,” I said, “because I know you’re healed.”

The way you look at your situation really sets the path to the end result. There is power in your thoughts, and constant negative thinking or the feeling of defeat can mostly turn a situation that way because you’ve already accepted it.

It’s critical to think positively when you’re facing a challenging situation. The stress of believing that something’s heading towards a disaster is such a heavy load to carry.

We’re not meant to carry heavy loads. When we go to Jesus he gives us rest; we can give him our burdens and take his on, which is light. (Matthew 11:28-30). And when he died, he also healed us. We were healed. We were healed from that broken arm before it happened. We were healed from that stroke before it happened. We were healed from that cancer before we knew about it.

And sometimes death is the ultimate healing. God sometimes takes His children to be with Him because He wants to end the pain they’re going through. Heaven is a place with no pain, tears or fears.

It’s usually when people face traumatic trials like fighting cancer or losing someone to a disease that brings them closer to God. Or it can cause someone to distance themselves from God. It’s these times that truly show a person’s faith. Do they believe in medicine? God’s healing power? Nothing?

People usually ask me how can I believe in God if bad things happen in life? But my question to them, how could you not believe? It's during the most troubling times that God likes to show off His power. Ask Him to do a miracle, ask Him for healing and He'll gladly do it.

Here's what God has to say about those who want to call on Him:

He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.
—  Psalm 91:15-16

Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
— Jeremiah 3:33

And after a week of waiting for test results, my cousin learned that he doesn't have cancer.