A Matter of Perspective

Our pastor here at Haven, Kevin Clark, just preached yesterday on one of the most difficult passages that i've wrestled with in my Christian experience. He preached on latter half of James 5, the part about calling for the elders of the church to anoint the sick with oil and pray over them. James then says this will result in healing.
The part i've always wrestled with is the healing. James seems to be laying out a formula here that should work every time. He says to anoint and pray and that the prayer offered in faith would heal the sick. He doesn't say it might heal the sick or "Lord-willing" the sick would be healed. He says A (anointing) + B (prayer of faith) = C (healing).
The difficulty is that this doesn't always work. my father-in-law battled cancer for two years until God took him home. It was a very painful process, very heart-wrenching to see him suffer and to try to comfort my wife who ached for him very deeply. He had been anointed and prayed over numerous times...yet...he still died.
Did he not have enough faith? Well, in context, the prayer of faith has nothing to do with the one who is sick. The prayer mentioned is that of the elders. (Kinda rules out faith healers. "Well, you weren't healed because you didn't have enough faith." Actually faith healer, the onus is on you.)
Did the elders then not have enough faith? Were they not trusting God to heal my father-in-law? Did God actually put his life in the hands of these men and because they didn't have the right amount of "faith" God's hands were tied? Sorry, Dwight. I wanted to heal you, but those elders didn't have enough faith... Really?
The problem then is not with God. God is not in any way limited by our faith or lack thereof. His kingdom rules over all. None can hold back His hand or challenge His authority. He declares the end before the beginning. He calls His shot millenia in advance with absolute certainty. God is God.
The problem is not with James. "Maybe he just misquoted God or misunderstood what God meant." All Scripture is God-breathed, including James.
The problem is in understanding the perspective. Kevin showed us (listen to the sermon from 10-5-08 at achurchworthfinding.com) how that the key words for sick and heal can not only be translated from a physical perspective but also from a spiritual one.
Here's the point. James, in context, has been talking about spiritual struggles. His call is to hang on during the difficult times because Christ is returning to set everything straight. It makes sense then that the sick is one who is spiritually oppressed and defeated and that the healing is actually a spiritual restoration and rejuvenation.
God can and very well may choose to heal physically but He never promised us that in His Word. He has promised to never abandon us or leave us helpless when we needed Him most. He's promised to give us a home with Him in glory and to richly reward those who are faithful during this earthly pilgrimage. He never promised a life of ease, a life of comfort, a life of health and wealth. And I think that's difficult for us to swallow. After all, we're Americans, the nation blessed by God.
No one would dispute the tremendous impact that Apostle Paul made for the cause of Christ. No one would deny his faithfulness. Take a look then at the circumstances God placed in his life in 2Corinthians 11: more suffering than any of us would care to deal with. Nevertheless, Paul said in 2Corinthians 4 and 12 that the things he suffered here actually prepared him for the glory of life eternal. The temporal tribulation he experienced in this life produced for him eternal glories that last forever.
Think about that... Had Paul simply been delivered out of every difficulty, had he been spared the pain and the suffering of his circumstances he right now would have nothing in glory. No wonder he took pleasure in his "weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that [he suffered] for Christ." (2Cor. 12:10 NLT) He got it! He understood! He had the right...perspective.
The problem is our perspective. We want to free from trials and tribulations, yet we fail to see life from the Father's point of view.
God has promised to be with us, to keep us and to pick us up when we're weary. The point of James 5 is that we have a support group that God has given us called the church to help us along the way. God can heal us. He can still work miracles. Yet even when He doesn't, He's still working for good. We just can't see it yet.
Even in death, God is simply answering the prayer of His Son in John 17:24: "Father, I want these whom You have given Me to be with Me where I am..." You see, life is simply a matter of perspective.
Thanks for reading.