I am a big believer in the doctrine of healing. I have experienced God’s healing in my own life, and I have witnessed God healing myriads of people over my past couple decades I’ve been in ministry. I am greatly comforted by verses like the one in James that gives us a great hope in the power of prayer:
James 5
13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms.
14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
I do believe that God heals, but I also believe that healing is not always the only path that He chooses for us. Sometimes His perfect plan for our lives is to allow us to suffer and experience disease, illness, and hardship. The reason for this is that He can often teach us things through suffering that we would never be able to learn through a book or seminar, or through comfort and prosperity.
Paul had a problem with his eyesight that God never healed. When Timothy was sick, Paul told him to drink wine (not go to a healing service). The Lazarus who was raised from the dead eventually died later. Paul says that he had a thorn in the flesh which he prayed for God to remove over and over again, but God never removed it. Job suffered because God had a whole bigger purpose for him than mere comfort on this planet. And Job’s suffering was not the result of a lack of faith.
Some of the greatest blessings in this world come from God’s power in the midst of trials. God changes us, molds us, strengthens us, and builds us through hardship. And there is nothing like the experience of being comforted by God alone in that dark hour.
Over the past twenty-five years that I have been in ministry, I have seen people hurt greatly by the false teaching that God always wants to heal every malady. This is because that belief can cause a massive amount of guilt and disillusionment for the afflicted in those times when God actually chooses not to heal. The implication is that the suffering Christian just didn’t quite believe enough or is hiding some sort of sin. I have seen Christians destroyed in their faith over this erroneous teaching.
We must realize that sometimes it’s just not God’s plan to heal or to fix a problem quickly for us. And that’s ok. He still loves us. He still has a plan. And He still has a profound purpose for that pain that can end up blessing us beyond anything we could ever imagine.
Often God chooses to heal! But sometimes He teaches us more and draws us closer when we walk the dark mile of suffering. But to experience such blessing, it is important that we run to God and not away from Him in the midst of the storm.
For an epic example of how God can bless even in the midst of a tragedy, check out this post:
“Experiencing God’s Grace — Even at the Death of a Child”
I’d love to hear your comments about
this subject. Let me hear
your feedback!
Be sure to sign up at the top right
of this blog to be notified
of new posts!
Chris, I suffer from severe asthma and I have spent 3 1/2 decades smoking cigarettes, and for a few years pot, heroin, and cocaine and I went on the vent on April 11, 2008 for the 1st time. I woke up 3 1/2 weeks later and told I would be on 24/7 oxygen the rest of my life. Although I did not do that for longer than 8 months. I quit smoking cigarettes April 10, 2008 and the drugs years earlier (back in 1998). Yet I deserved everything that was being dealt to me. I could not see my way out of this… God healed me back in the 90s but when I walked back into the sin of addiction and cigarettes again I deserved the stuff coming at me. I was using my rescue inhaler all the time going through them every 3 days… Yet God spoke to me in May of 2008 as audibly as I can hear the radio or a person speaking to me. I was in the grocery store checking out and on 3.5 liters of oxygen. God said to me “Sandy I want to heal you, I promise to heal you but you have to do certain things” the 1st was to remain smoke free (I will say that God removed ALL desire for me to smoke. No fighting it I was free.) 2nd was to do exactly what James 5 tells us to do go to the elders and have them pray over me. (that took some time but it has happened.) Now, some of you may say ok how free are you? Well I still have been hospitalized every year since 2008 and on the vent 4 more times (the last time being 2012). Yet I was hospitalized in 2013, and 2014 without being on the vent. My church has been praying and the last time I went to the pulmonologist (2 weeks ago) I had to do a pulmonary function test and I scored high enough to be placed in the non smokers area (a person with breathing issues who has never smoked) and if I keep doing what I am doing (which is simply being obedient to God) I will not have to use 24/7 oxygen until I am 82 (which is 30 years for me).. So, does God heal? Yes, He does. He loves me so much that despite everything I deserved He is breathing fresh breath into my lungs and His miners (a lady at my church had a vision of miners cleaning out my lungs) doing their job. I may or may not ever be hospitalized again for asthma but this one thing I know to be true. In my weakness He is made strong. I could not walk around Wal-Mart without oxygen a few years ago now not only can i walk around it at least 1 time I can walk around it 3 times without turning ashy or out of breath. Yes, His love and grace give me way more than I will ever deserve. But today He is healing me 1 breath at a time. Do I deserve it? No, Am I grateful for it YES. Do I wish He would just completely heal me so that I never have to do a breathing treatment or go to the hospital again… yes, I would like that but I don’t think I would appreciate it or Him as much if He did heal me completely. I love that God is working and showing me.. Even when I have to take steroids to help me breathe easier, God is in that as well. He tells me not to fight… i will forever tell of how He heals me despite my not deserving it. God’s peace to you.
i was taught early on that yes the Lord heals and has.As we know the greatest healing is when we passed from death to life in Christ.We have no right to to say to anyone they do not have enough faith or there is sin in their life blocking the healing. Who are we that such things are even known by us.It also brings about the thought that something is being done wrong and we are not measuring up for the healing to manifest which at one point I myself struggled.The Lord finished the work and there is the place of rest.So when praying for a person for healing I pray then tell them to walk in their healing if not immediate and then to rest!! in His finished work. Be blessed Jim Eaton
Very practical. There’s erroneous teaching that abounds regarding this. It’s funny how easily believe this kind of teaching when it is appointed that we will have difficulty, but forget that Jesus has overcome the world. Sometimes I think that we are wired to hope like this? Perhaps this is more proof that we are wired to worship Him!
Regards
ps sent friend request on Facebook. Also, read your post from The Daily Bible Reading today 1/1/2015
Pastor Chris Russell God bless you so much for what He is using you to do in the lives of thousands of believes around the globe include I. I believe what you shared with us is completely a light from God to us to enlighten our understanding on the basis of our calling as children of God.
I thank God for the life of Sandy, a great living testimony. It’s my prayer that God will set her in complete divine health. God bless you.
Dear chris russel,
Just now gone thru 8 keys to knowing gods will.you are my mentor.i really need teaching,mentoring from you.i wanted to write to you thru mail.please contact me by mail0
Ditto that.
I just found this site today…. and I am trying one more time to renew my walk with the Lord. This past summer I was diagnoised with a stage 3 tumor in my right lung.. had a lobectomy in late July and now cancer free. My Dr. told me that it was unheard of for a stage 3 tumor over 8 cm to find that it had not yet spread to other parts of my body! That has to be God. Now I am trying to understand why God would save me yet a 2nd time from Cancer. In 05 I was diagnoised with Prostate Cancer which I also overcame. I took it for granted at that time but now I think differently. My question is why? I have been backslidin for many years now and have not served the Lord in any way. Yet he allows me twice to survive what could have killed me. God heals without reasons at times I believe. He did for me and now I want to give back with whatever time that God allows me to have left on this earth, and I am very very Thankful.
David, the only thing I can say is because God loves you. He loves us and He shows us much more grace and mercy than what we deserve… If you read my post I was asking the same question… Why did God heal me even though I went back into the sin… Only thing I am learning is that like you whom He desires to set free He does… Welcome Home David…. May the journey now be all for Him… not because He healed you but because you recognize that He loved you enough that in the backslidden way you were living He still loved you and healed you in spite of… Great testimony of Gods love and grace
I believe everything u said. GOD always have plan for his children,I must that I feel more happier in the presence of GOD because there is joy
send me more scriptures that will change me to be a better person
I am also sick been in hiv treatment since August 2017 but in 2017 December I started to get sick and at some point I would feel like I’m losing my mind. I pray every day and I have strong faith that God is bigger than Hiv no dieses failed him. I am slowly gaining my memory back I can’t wait for the day doctors confirm that I have no dieses in my blood. I will go around preach the gospel of the Lord that Jesus died so that we can be free. God our Jehovah is good all the time.