Glen Hartline

I spent much of today thinking about a friend of mine.  He hasn’t been a friend but for a handful of months, and I’ve never even met him in person, but I’ve grown to love and respect him as if I had known him most of my life. Anyway, he sent me a message about a young girl who had been miraculously healed of cancer and about another who had died. How you weep for one while bursting with joy for the other.  I began asking the Lord can one healing make up for the death of another, does healing another make up the “spiritual payment” so to speak for the one that was lost.  Even though my heart desired to hear my Father say yes, the only answer I got was no.  You see, Jesus has already paid the price for each and every healing, and when someone isn’t healed that’s just part of His inheritance that we lost. I said we lost, because that is exactly right, we are commanded to heal the sick.  I’ve prayed for people and they have died, Jesus didn’t decide not to heal them, He didn’t get some “greater glory” by there enduring pain and then their death. The truth is I failed. No need to sugar coat it, I don’t need someone to tell me, “well at least you tried.” For me, trying doesn’t count, we are guaranteed success through the finished work of the cross if only we will believe. In those cases, I didn’t believe; I failed. Jesus will never regain that part of His inheritance, there are no do-overs. Fortunately, that’s not the end of the story.

Enough about me, back to my friend. One of the things that I’ve grown to love about him is his overcome at any cost attitude. I actually have two “new” friends like that. Although a death may be a lost healing forever, he has learned to make the enemy pay in a whole new way.  You see, he uses each and every failure as a stepping stone to bring forth a greater manifestation of God’s glory in him and through him.  He uses those experiences to become more like Jesus, and by that, destroying more works of the devil. His life is becoming the reality of what the enemy meant for evil God has turned it for good.  I admire both of my brothers for that.  We all will be faced with failures along the way. We don’t expect them, but they will occur. But if you begin to understand Whose son you are, and what authority and power He has given you, those failures become fewer and fewer. If you do like my friend and look at a failure as a challenge to seek our Father for greater understanding of who he is and what he has been given, and take a stand that you will not lose like that again, you too will start making the enemy pay like my friend does. My friend knows something that most don’t, it’s not about him, it’s about being Jesus to the world. He will not give up until you no longer see him anymore, but that’s o.k. you’ll be seeing Jesus!

To my two “new” brothers. I love you guys, you are an inspiration to me. I will continue to follow you as you follow Jesus!