When God Heals, And When He Does Not
Can God heal? Yes. Does God heal? Absolutely. Jesus healed many, as a
part of His earthly ministry.
He still works miracles at times, some of which include miraculous
physical healing. But Jesus didn't heal all sick people. Why? Because
it wasn't His primary mission and purpose. He came to save the souls
of sinners, not to merely make their present life more comfortable.
(Mark 2:17). Surely, He cared for their needs, hurts, ailments, and
discomforts. But He did not heal every physical ailment present on
the earth. In fact, though there is nothing recorded in Scripture to
this effect, it is possible that Jesus Himself was sick or injured at
one time or another (besides the time leading up, and including the
cross, of course). Sickness is not necessarily a result of sin, but
it is part of being in a cursed world, and in a mortal body, as Jesus
was. (Philippians 2:6-8, Hebrews 2:14).
Sometimes, we might be prone to think that Jesus would never have us
be sick or hurting. The reality is that one day, He will wipe away
our tears, and remove all pain and grief, (Revelation 21:4), but that
day has not yet come. There is a present purpose for suffering, as
it shapes us, challenges us, and draws our hope toward eternity.
(James 1:2-4, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18). But there is nothing in
Scripture that guarantees that, in the cross, all sickness has been
conquered. How do we know this? Well, the Bible is explicitly clear
about this. Sometimes, we get the idea that the apostles were healing
everybody whom they came into contact with. We might tend to think
that they had a sort of indiscriminate healing power and ability. We
might even be tempted to think that they could tell God when and
where they wanted Him to work, and heal through them. The truth is,
that the apostles could only do what God would enable them to do by
faith. When they moved to heal someone, they were moved by the
Spirit, confident that they were to believe God for healing. But
there were other times when God didn't heal, and they weren't in
shock or awe about this. It didn't weaken their faith in any way. In
2 Timothy 4:20, Paul says, "Erastus remained at Corinth, but
Trophimus I left sick at Miletus." Paul, the apostle who,
himself, was healed from a deadly bite by a poisonous viper, (Acts
28:3-6), could not, or did not, heal Trophimus. He left him sick. Why
would he do this, if he had the power in Jesus to heal him?
Certainly, both of them would have believed for healing, and then
gone on to serve the Lord. But God chose not to heal, and Paul left
Trophimus sick. What about Epaphroditus, a helper to Paul, and
servant to the Philippians? He was sick to the point of death, but
the Lord spared his life. (Philippians 2:25-30). Why did things have
to get so bad, to the extent that this righteous servant of God
almost died? Couldn't Paul, or a person "gifted in healing", have
spared him this near death experience?
No, because man cannot manipulate God, and God heals when God wants
to heal. What about Timothy? Paul told him in 1 Timothy 5:23, "No
longer drink water exclusively, but use a little wine for the sake of
your stomach and your frequent ailments." For whatever reason,
Timothy had some stomach issue and other frequent ailments, perhaps
related, perhaps not. Regardless, he was regularly suffering from
some variety of sickness. Paul's advice was not to exorcise some
demon of stomach sickness, nor did he come to Timothy and bestow some
healing power upon him. Timothy was a man of great faith, and was one
of Paul's closest friends and fellow servants of the Lord. It wasn't
for lack of faith that he wasn't healed. It just wasn't God's plan
for some reason, and both Paul and Timothy accepted that, and lived
in light of that reality. They took practical steps to deal with the
problem. There is room in the Bible for doctors and medicine. Luke,
after all, the author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, was
the "beloved physician." (Colossians 4:14).
I selfishly wish that we could always be healed, because of Christ's
victory over sin and death on the cross, but the reality is that,
even in Jesus' time and in Paul's time and personal life, healing
wasn't always a reality. When God wanted to do something special and
significant, He healed. At other times, sickness was a trial, or a
way of life. In these cases, as in all instances, God's grace was
sufficient. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
We must not presume upon God's healing, though we ought to believe in
it. God does heal, (James 5:13-16), even today, but it is because He
wants to. He honors the prayers of faith from the righteous hearts of
His children, but He doesn't always work how we want Him to work. I
have been amongst believers that have firmly believed God for
healing, and for whatever reason, God has chosen not to heal.
Sometimes, people even go on to be with the Lord. Yet, I have also
heard of many testimonies, where God has confounded doctors, and
miraculously healed. Regardless of what God decides to do, we can
trust that His way and will is best. We cannot command God to heal,
but we can ask Him to. We can believe Him to, but we cannot require
Him to. In this world, we will have tribulation, but we ought not to
fear, because He has overcome this world. God causes all things to
work for our good, even sickness, and, yes, even death.
As Paul said, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain." (Philippians
1:21). One day sickness won't be an issue anymore, but until we are
with Jesus, let us pray for healing and grace to endure all things.
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