MAX ON LIFE

69. Our son (sixteen years old) was diagnosed with a mental illness three years ago. We have prayed without ceasing for God's healing. But healing has not come, and the atmosphere in our home is becoming increasingly tense. Should we keep praying for his healing or just accept that he will never be healed?

It's always right to pray. Scripture tells us of many parents who pleaded with God for their children. Your son is just as important to God as those children of long ago.

If you will bear with me for a moment, let's come at this from a different perspective. I find it fascinating that the thread count of bedsheets can be anywhere between eighty and fifteen hundred threads per square inch of fabric. The higher the count, the better quality the sheet. Hundreds of threads woven in and out, over and under, to create one fabric.

I think about the nearly seven billion threads of life woven in and out of each other that create this tapestry on earth. All of them placed here by the Creator, holding each other together.

Your son is one of those threads. His life wraps around the lives of others, holding them together as they hold him together, woven there by God himself. We may think it's a weak thread that needs to be fixed, but God may see it as the strongest thread around.

Maybe your son's illness is the thread that keeps you focused on God. Maybe your son's illness is the key to a neighbor coming to accept Christ. Maybe your son's illness becomes a testimony that blesses people for years to come. We have no idea how our lives weave in and out of the work God is doing in others.

So can your son be healed? Yes. Jesus healed mental illness in Bible times (Luke 9:37-42), and since God never changes, he can heal your son today.

Will your son be healed? We cannot say. It's not your decision or mine or even your son's. It's the decision of the Weaver. We see only one thread, but God sees them all.

The real healing that needs to occur, and a major issue that you seem to be facing, is the tension in the house. Relationships are pulling apart. Your family's faith is hanging by a thread.

God can bring that healing to your family now if they will come to him with their tired, worn-out lives and ask for a new wardrobe. Pray for healing, but pray for more than just physical healing.

By: Max Lucado