Why God Heals: 5 Common Misconceptions
Ever wonder why some people get healed and others don't? I Googled this question, and there're 286 people who also have the answer. But since you're reading this blog, here are 5 commonly held misconceptions as to why God heals:
1. People who get healed deserve it.
I heard this more than once when Bill was healed of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy in October of 2000. The conversation would go like this:
Me: "Bill was miraculously healed of PSP."
Someone else: "Well, if anyone deserved to be healed, he sure did."
Actually, Bill never felt like he "deserved" healing--although he was thrilled when God did it. In fact, the Bible says what we really deserve is to go to hell, but that's another post. Think about the story of when Jesus healed 10 lepers, and only one came back to thank Him. If only deserving people get healed, then why did Jesus heal the other 9 who weren't thankful? Even though they didn't thank Jesus, they still were healed! So, whether or not we are healed has nothing to do with what we deserve, but has everything to do with God's choice to heal.
2. If God heals you, He must have something important for you to do.
We also heard this when Bill was healed, almost as if everything he had done prior to being healed was not important, and now he had to solve world peace. The thought that he was healed so he could "do something important" was a burden on him for years, and he finally had to burn his red cape and come to the conclusion that his job was to "fear God and keep his commandments," (Ecc. 12:13), and let God deal with the future of the world.
3. People who get healed pray the right prayers.
The Apostle Paul prayed three times to be healed, and God didn't heal Him. (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) Was that because he didn't pray correctly? Paul prayed for other people to be healed, and they were, so surely he knew how to pray for healing. No, the reason Paul was not healed was that God's desire was to show His power, not through healing, but through illness. Paul wrote, "But (Jesus) said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Cor. 12:9)
4. People who get healed have enough faith--and, conversely, if you aren't healed, you don't have enough faith.
Some people in the Bible were said to have had faith, and that faith made them well. (Luke 18:42) However, there were also people who were healed in response to the faith of others. (Mark 2:1-12) And yet another story involved a child who was eventually healed, but whose father admitted to Jesus that he needed help to believe that healing was even possible! (Mark 9:24) And finally, some faith-filled people like the Apostle Paul, were never healed of their sickness. Jesus is not hamstrung by the amount of faith we do, or do not, possess. And, He's not obligated to heal when people absolutely, positively know He can do it. I've read a little about that in books.
5. God loves the people who get healed. God is mad at, or somehow displeased with, the people who don't get healed. I don't think God was displeased with the Apostle Paul, so if you've prayed and you or your loved one is not healed, don't let Satan whisper in your ear that God doesn't love you, or is somehow not paying attention. The bottom line is that even people who DO get healed, eventually die. Our problem is that we think that our health or the health of our loved ones is the most important thing. As consuming as it may be, our health is secondary. Jesus, and His kingdom, is Primary.
So there you have it. I'd also recommend the book Miraculous Healing--Why Does God Heal Some and Not Others, by Henry Frost. It was written at the turn of the last century, and is a bit cumbersome to read--but he gives a thorough treatment of this question, and I came away from it encouraged to pray, and to leave the answers with God.
We prayed for Bill to be healed, and he was--here on earth. We prayed for Annie to be healed, and she was--in heaven. And having experienced both, I know God can be glorified through sickness just as effectively as through healing. We need to remember that God can take seemingly bad things to bring about His good--the good that is, admittedly, sometimes very hard to see. Sometimes, the "good" is simply that we experience in a daily, minute-by-minute way that His grace is sufficient, while anxiously looking forward to heaven where there will be no more sickness and no more pain!
Jean
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Revelation 21:4