WHEN GOD DOES NOT HEAL

In my earlier post,* http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/05/when-sickness-strikes.html   I mentioned that I believe there is a definite place for supernatural healing today: “What if a healer claims to have received a rhema word from God that a patient will be miraculously cured without medical intervention? Is there a place for such a stand? Yes, I believe God can heal in so many different ways, with or without medical means; we should not attempt to limit an infinite God.”

Yes, I am not for a moment doubting that God can heal. Or that the prayer of faith can heal:

“Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven” (James 5:14-15).

But when reality confronts us in the real world – that some are still not healed despite being prayed for – what are we to do? There are so many cases of non-healing which does not gel with theology that says “God will heal always”. For example, have you seen a Down’s syndrome child being healed completely back to normal?

If God heals always when people get prayed for sicknesses, then we will not have to die and will hypothetically live forever. Then how are we going to expire? We have to die, in most cases, of some illness (eg. heart attack, stroke, or cancer) if we don’t die of accidents. Are there any modern-day Enochs you know of who get translated to heaven without dying?

I wonder whether spiritual healers report their cases of non-healing with the same degree of enthusiasm as they do with their successes.

As a doctor of 30 years and a Christian of the same duration, I have been grappling with this issue day after day. Let us not frame a theology (“God will heal always”) that does not take into account real world considerations.

Below are excerpts from: http://rev-ed.blogspot.com/2006/02/when-god-doesnt-heal.html

“Joni Erickson Tada was paralyzed in an accident as a teenager. She prayed in faith many, many times, and has written about those experiences. So why is she still in a wheelchair? Why does Billy Graham have Parkinson's? Why do men and women of God wear glasses or walk with canes?”

“God is glorified by healing, sure, and I've seen it happen. But God is also glorified through a life well-lived in spite of debilitating injury or a damaging illness. I know that I am inspired by a Christian whose faith is not destroyed even if their normal "healthy" body is. Praise God that He is thus glorified!”

Finally, I like this post by well-balanced material by Alpha course: 

https://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://www.alphatools.ca/downloads/3-running-a-quality-alpha-course/for-course-administrators/alpha-live-weekly-transcripts/10-week-alpha-transcripts/Week+9_Does+God+Heal+Today.doc&pli=1&chrome=true

There are certainly more factors in the equation than just harping on the fact that God heals in every instance.

The other factors to be considered include: God’s sovereignty, the fall of man (sin) and consequent disease and degeneration, inevitable death that confronts each of us.

God does not answer all our whys this side of eternity when we’re confronted with non-healing – even when all the prerequisites have been fulfilled for spiritual healing. His thoughts and ways are higher than that of ours.

Salvation is the ultimate “miracle” – to get transported to heaven when we die. Healing, if He grants it, is an added blessing – but it should not be viewed as our inalienable right as children of God.

Only in heaven will all our tears be dried up. Perhaps, then, all our perplexities on why God heals some and not others will finally be resolved.

Related posts: 

* http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/05/when-sickness-strikes.html

http://limpohann.blogspot.com/2012/06/healing-versus-sovereignty-of-god.html