Real Faith

This is dedicated to the person I haven't seen in a long while and who stirred my thoughts tonight and got me to thinking along these lines.  Thank you. 

Faith...........  What is faith?  Is it something that will make the outcome of a situation sure to come true?  If I believe hard enough for what I want to happen, will it happen?  Is this faith?  No.  This is not faith.  It's not even true.  If it were true, do you  think I would still have Parkinson's Disease?  Certainly not!
Faith points to the One in whom I believe to do what He says He will do - to remain true to His character. So who do I have faith in?  God.  The God of the Bible.  Jesus.  He is the only one who can always be counted on to do the right thing - the loving thing.
I can face the day ahead with this dreadful disease because I know the One who is there every minute with me.  I know that He is love and light and goodness.  He has all power and knows everything.  Knowing that He is all these things and I can count on that to never change, then I can face the day ahead with this dreadful disease.  Whatever happens (it will only be what He allows) it will work out ok because He is looking out for my best interests.  He will tell me if I go the wrong way, or do an inappropriate thing.  If I ignore Him then He will do something to get my attention.  If I am His child, He will not let me get away with doing harmful or immoral things, because He loves me too much to let me settle for what is not best. 
I have faith that I will make it through the night tonight.  I don't know what will happen tonight, but I have faith that He will be here with me and that nothing can happen unless He allows it.  I know His character, therefore I know nothing will be more than I can cope with, because He has promised it is so. 
I can ask for Him to heal me.  Will I be healed tonight?  If I only think positively and not entertain the thought that He might say no, will I be healed tonight?  Can I expect that?    No.  Well does that mean that my faith wasn't big enough or strong enough to receive what I asked for?  No.  It simply means your faith was misplaced.  It was not faith in the One who can perform miracles, but faith in the outcome I wanted.  Is it good to ask for healing?  Yes.  But it may not be best for your idea of healing to be the one God chooses.  And so God sometimes says, "No."  Sometimes He says, "Not now."  Other times He says, "Not in that way."  He says no because we often ask for something that ultimately would not work out right. 
What if we took the word, "no" out of a parent's vocabulary?  It would be disastrous.  Well, we can no more take ,"no" out of God's vocabulary than we can remove it from a parent's vocabulary.  We learn what is appropriate to ask for when we have heard no enough times.
I'm going to continue to ask Him for healing, but if He says, "Not now.", I will not have a fit like a spoiled child, but will remember who my Father is and trust Him to do what's best.  Faith is trusting Him.