Faith Not to be Healed?

Yesterday,, I listened to a talk by Elder David A. Bednar that stirred thought an emotion within me. He taught a truth of the Gospel that is difficult, yet magnificent. Elder Bednar spoke of a couple who faced an enormous struggle with cancer. The husband was diagnosed with bone cancer only three weeks following their marriage. They, of course, desired his healing and his life to be preserved. When Elder Bednar visited them in the hospital, the husband asked for a blessing. Elder Bednar explained, “I then posed questions I had not planned to ask and had never previously considered: “[John,] do you have the faith not to be healed? If it is the will of our Heavenly Father that you are transferred by death in your youth to the spirit world to continue your ministry, do you have the faith to submit to His will and not be healed?” DAVID A. BEDNAR, That We Might “Not … Shrink” (D&C 19:18), CES Devotional for Young Adults • March 3, 2013 • University of Texas Arlington ) Isn’t that a piercing question? We often think of having the faith to be healed, but this is a deeper truth. As we learn to submit to the Lord’s will, we must answer this probing question. Do we have the faith not to be healed? Although I did not think of it in this way, I came to this point during my cancer/surgery journey in 2004. I wasn’t sure what the future held for me. I wasn’t certain I would even survive, but I finally came to submit to the will of the Father. I tried to have the faith to not be healed, even though it broke my heart. Many difficult situations have arisen since that time. I’m still trying to learn this principle. Having the faith not to be healed is so tremendously difficult. It cuts to the very center of my heart and discipleship. I know that problems will confront me in the future as they have in the past, and I hope I can not shrink. I hope I can answer that my faith is strong enough not to be healed.