If you are like me, you are always concernd when you hear of friends being inflicted with a serious disease. It is at those times we think about, or pray for, divine healing. Yet we don’t always seem to get the right answers, or at least the answers we would like.
It is remarkable to think that if Job had not suffered as he did, the Book of Job would not have been written and we would never have known, and learned from, his incredible patience and faithfulness to God in the midst of his suffering. We seek to know the reasons for our suffering but often ask the wrong questions. We tend to ask, “Why me?” and “What did I do wrong?” This is quite natural but usually irrelevant, because God does not work that way. It is true that some people do suffer because of wrong doing, but God does not bring judgment upon his children in the form of disease. Our sin was dealt with at the cross and we live in a forgiven state. Misconceptions like these only add emotional and spiritual stress to the situation.
But we ask the question, “Does God always heal?” No! In fact we have to recognize that more people are not healed than healed. Why is this? We do not know. What we do know, is that all things work according to God’s sovereignty. Sometimes he heals for his glory, and another time he does not heal, also for his glory. Either way, the end result is that he receives the glory. Not always an easy principle to accept when it is us who is suffering.
God still heals today. But he does not heal at man’s demand or simply upon his request. God heals, however, as he wills, in his time, according to his plan, according to his purpose and in accordance with his divine sovereignty.
