Love Well - Numbers 12:10-15 (Sick & Diseased)
God, Please Heal: Learning to Love Well in the Face of Sickness
When someone we love is sick, it’s hard to know what to do. We want to fix it, to say the right thing, to make the pain go away. But often, what people need most is not our solutions—it’s our prayers, our presence, and our patience.
In the Love Well series, Pastor Allan reminded us that loving well sometimes means walking with others through their suffering. The message centered on the story of Miriam in Numbers 12, and it showed us two simple but powerful ways to love those who are sick or struggling: cry out and wait out.
Cry Out to the Lord
When Miriam was struck with leprosy, Moses didn’t just feel sorry for her—he cried out to God: “El Na, Rifa Na”—God, please heal.
That same cry echoes today in hospital rooms, quiet bedrooms, and tear-filled prayers. When we see someone we love suffering, our first and best response is to cry out to the Lord on their behalf.
God still heals. He healed Hezekiah, restored the blind, and raised His own Son from the grave. He is still Jehovah Rapha—the God who heals.
Sometimes that healing comes immediately. Sometimes it comes through medicine, or time, or strength to endure. And sometimes, the final healing comes in eternity, when every tear will be wiped away (Revelation 21:4).
But no matter when healing comes, our job is to keep crying out—to intercede in faith, believing that God knows what we don’t know and sees what we don’t see.
Wait Out Sickness With Them
After Miriam was isolated outside the camp, Scripture says “the people did not move on until she was brought back in.”
That’s what it means to love well. The Israelites didn’t abandon Miriam in her sickness—they waited with her.
Loving someone through illness takes patience. It means being willing to slow down, to sit beside them, to stay when things get uncomfortable. God promises to heal His people—but He doesn’t tell us when. So in the meantime, we wait together.
How to Wait Well
At the end of the message, Pastor Allan shared practical ways to wait with those who are suffering:
Ask to visit. Don’t just show up—ask first. And if they say yes, go.
Say the right things. Avoid questions like “How long do you have?” or “Everything happens for a reason.” Instead, say, “I love you. I hate that you’re going through this. I’m here with you.”
Offer help specifically. Don’t just say, “Let me know what you need.” Offer a meal, childcare, housecleaning, or a listening ear.
Be okay with silence. Sometimes presence says more than words ever could.
These small acts of love reflect the heart of Jesus, who both cries out for us and waits with us. He intercedes daily before the Father and promises that one day, pain, sickness, and death will be no more.
Until then, may we cry out and wait out—for our brothers, our sisters, our friends.
May we love them well.
Key Verse:
“Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘God, please heal her.’” — Numbers 12:13
