A few years ago, I wrote, and published the blog post “Faith and Healing – What Does the Bible Say?” In that blog post I said that healing is a gift from God not a right. “A gift is not something that you can demand or claim that you have a right to. Salvation and eternal life are gifts from God because of His grace and mercy not because we earned or deserve them.
Ephesians 2:8, 10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Healing is a gift. It is a gift from God, because of His grace, a gift received by faith. A gift is not something that you can demand or claim that you have a right to. When Jesus walked the earth those who wanted healing asked Him for it. They didn’t demand it and Jesus healed them voluntarily. Salvation and eternal life are gifts that God has given us because of His grace and mercy not because we earned or deserve them. We don’t earn healing because we go to church and bible study every week or pray three times a day. It is a gift from God. Which begs the question why does God give this gift to some and not others?
We know that God is a healer. These words have been comforting to some, and, frankly, frustrating to others. To some, if we are honest, believing God is a healer becomes a challenge.
Why is it Important to Remember that God Is a Healer?
The Bible declares God is a healer, but how does a person dealing with sickness in their body handle this truth especially if they have not received their healing yet.
The most important reason to know God is a healer is to understand that he can heal you. He has all power and all authority, and he can bring healing to anyone who needs it. If you are dealing with any sickness, do what God asks you to do. Pray and ask for healing and believe he can heal you.
James 5:13-15 NIV Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 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.
Ephesians 2:8, 10 NIV For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Healing is a gift. It is a gift from God, because of His grace, a gift received by faith. A gift is not something that you can demand or claim that you have a right to. When Jesus walked the earth those who wanted healing asked Him for it. They didn’t demand it and Jesus healed them voluntarily. Salvation and eternal life are gifts that God has given us because of His grace and mercy not because we earned or deserve them. We don’t earn healing because we go to church and bible study every week or pray three times a day. It is a gift from God. Which begs the question why does God give this gift to some and not others?
We know that God is a healer. These words have been comforting to some, and, frankly, frustrating to others. To some, if we are honest, believing God is a healer becomes a challenge.
Why is it Important to Remember that God Is a Healer?
The Bible declares God is a healer, but how does a person dealing with sickness in their body handle this truth especially if they have not received their healing yet.
The most important reason to know God is a healer is to understand that he can heal you. He has all power and all authority, and he can bring healing to anyone who needs it. If you are dealing with any sickness, do what God asks you to do. Pray and ask for healing and believe he can heal you.
James 5:13-15 NIV Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 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.
Does this mean that Mean that Everybody that asks for Healing is Healed?
Now here is where the “rubber meets the road” and things get a little sticky. Life has proven that not everyone gets healed of their physical illnesses. Believers and unbelievers experience illnesses, and many die from those illnesses every day.
We often hear people say that a person was not healed because they didn’t have enough faith. If that were the case, then how do we explain the experience of Paul who was a great man of faith.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NIV or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
As far as we know from scripture, Paul was never healed.
What is the Greater Objective of God’s Healing?
While God can heal sickness in the body, that is not God’s first objective for life on this earth. We know God is concerned about physical healing because he asks us to pray for it. However, God is more concerned about a person’s spiritual healing.
Mark 8:34-38 NIV Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (emphasis mine)
Jesus healed many during his life on earth. Still, he was more concerned about their spiritual condition than their physical one because your physical condition is temporary while your spiritual one is eternal. Jesus came to rescue people from their sinful eternal condition. He didn’t overlook their physical sickness, but their salvation was his top priority. The greater emphasis was, and always will be, on your eternal condition.
When you think about how God is a healer, make sure you understand God’s priority in healing. Many people will endure physical afflictions. These physical afflictions are only temporary, as bad as they are they are temporary. God deals with your sin problem first. He may or may not bring healing to your physical afflictions in this life.
Ultimately, our full physical healing awaits us in heaven. In heaven, there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death. We all need to be less preoccupied with our physical condition in this world and a lot more concerned with our spiritual condition.
Romans 12:1-2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Then we can focus our hearts on heaven where we will no longer have to deal with physical problems.
Revelation 21:1-4 NIV Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
But if he chooses not to, we must seek to understand more of his grace and purpose. In these moments, you must lean on his grace. There, you will find God’s grace to be all-sufficient, regardless of what happens in this life.
The button line.
The truth is everyone who believes in Jesus will be healed. It is not a question of “if.” It is a question of “when.” For some, God will provide temporary healing that will extend their days on this earth. For others, he won’t provide healing on this earth, but he will provide eternal healing that will relieve any suffering they experienced on this earth. No one can say why God chooses to heal some in this life and chooses not to heal others. Yet neither scenario changes to fact that God is a healer.
Here are six ways God is your healer, even today:
1. God Heals Physically
Doctors may tell you healing is a result of medical science, yet God works through doctors and gives them wisdom. Nutritionists may tell you healing is a result of natural supplements, but God provided those healing agents in nature and works through them, as well.
God also heals through the power of prayer. There are cases when a tumor was clearly on an MRI and after much prayer and a second or third scan, the tumor was completely gone, with no explanation other than God’s healing hand.
God works through a combination of medical treatment, natural remedies, and the prayers of His people. As you exercise wisdom and diligence to do what you can to be healthy, do you have faith that He can heal your physical infirmities today?
Although God is able to heal any physical ailment we have, sometimes He allows us to endure certain ailments because they cause us to depend more fully on Him and they draw us closer to Him than we’ve been before. Whether God chooses to heal us physically or not, we are to maintain trust in Him that He is good, and that nothing touches our bodies that hasn’t first passed through His loving hands.
2. God Heals the Disease of Sin
Jesus endured in His own body on the cross to heal our sin nature and free us of the ravages of sin.
Isaiah 53:5 NIV But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Praise God that, through your faith in the death and resurrection of His Son on your behalf, He has already healed you of a sin condition neither you nor any doctor could remedy.
3. God Heals the Disease of Self
We can invite Jesus into our lives and claim the gift of eternal life and call ourselves His children, but there is still the disease of self to be healed, even after the disease of sin has been atoned for.
Romans 7:18, 25, 8:1 NIV For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
4. God Heals Emotionally
Sometimes emotional wounds can be deeper and more painful than physical injuries or illnesses. God never designed us to experience that kind of grief and sorrow.
We were made to love God and enjoy Him forever in a sin- and disease-free paradise. Yet, our inherent sin from Adam ushered in pain and heartache that still feels foreign to the kind of life we were designed to live.
Jesus heals those kinds of wounds that can’t be cured through surgery, medication, or a positive attitude.
Psalms 147:3 NIV He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
5. God Heals Past Wounds
It’s been said, “time heals all wounds.” I believe that happens when we give our wounds to God and trust that He can heal them in His timing. Raw open wounds don’t heal overnight. But, as we cultivate a lifestyle of trusting God, forgiving others, walking in His light, and clinging to His Word, He heals us of those past wounds we can’t seem to overcome on our own.
Psalms 103:11-12 NIV For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God can heal you of whatever is in your past because He is the God of fresh starts and new beginnings.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
6. God Heals Minds and Hearts
Do you have a problem loving someone? Forgiving someone? Moving on past a certain hurt because your mind keeps replaying it? God is the Only One who can take care of that completely.
Allow God to renew your mind—and heal it—through the constant reading and study of Scripture, the company of others who obey His Word, and a continual yielding to the direction and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Knowing God is a healer means we must also trust him as Father, as good, as the holder of our future, as the one who has our best interest at heart. When you see him in this light, you will know God’s best for you is not all reserved for this life. Regardless of how good this life is, it will all pass away one day. The best is yet to come, and when this truth is alive in your heart, it allows you to endure, regardless of how he chooses to move in this life.
Now here is where the “rubber meets the road” and things get a little sticky. Life has proven that not everyone gets healed of their physical illnesses. Believers and unbelievers experience illnesses, and many die from those illnesses every day.
We often hear people say that a person was not healed because they didn’t have enough faith. If that were the case, then how do we explain the experience of Paul who was a great man of faith.
2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NIV or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he 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 about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
As far as we know from scripture, Paul was never healed.
What is the Greater Objective of God’s Healing?
While God can heal sickness in the body, that is not God’s first objective for life on this earth. We know God is concerned about physical healing because he asks us to pray for it. However, God is more concerned about a person’s spiritual healing.
Mark 8:34-38 NIV Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (emphasis mine)
Jesus healed many during his life on earth. Still, he was more concerned about their spiritual condition than their physical one because your physical condition is temporary while your spiritual one is eternal. Jesus came to rescue people from their sinful eternal condition. He didn’t overlook their physical sickness, but their salvation was his top priority. The greater emphasis was, and always will be, on your eternal condition.
When you think about how God is a healer, make sure you understand God’s priority in healing. Many people will endure physical afflictions. These physical afflictions are only temporary, as bad as they are they are temporary. God deals with your sin problem first. He may or may not bring healing to your physical afflictions in this life.
Ultimately, our full physical healing awaits us in heaven. In heaven, there will be no more pain, sickness, disease, suffering, or death. We all need to be less preoccupied with our physical condition in this world and a lot more concerned with our spiritual condition.
Romans 12:1-2 NIV Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Then we can focus our hearts on heaven where we will no longer have to deal with physical problems.
Revelation 21:1-4 NIV Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
But if he chooses not to, we must seek to understand more of his grace and purpose. In these moments, you must lean on his grace. There, you will find God’s grace to be all-sufficient, regardless of what happens in this life.
The button line.
The truth is everyone who believes in Jesus will be healed. It is not a question of “if.” It is a question of “when.” For some, God will provide temporary healing that will extend their days on this earth. For others, he won’t provide healing on this earth, but he will provide eternal healing that will relieve any suffering they experienced on this earth. No one can say why God chooses to heal some in this life and chooses not to heal others. Yet neither scenario changes to fact that God is a healer.
Here are six ways God is your healer, even today:
1. God Heals Physically
Doctors may tell you healing is a result of medical science, yet God works through doctors and gives them wisdom. Nutritionists may tell you healing is a result of natural supplements, but God provided those healing agents in nature and works through them, as well.
God also heals through the power of prayer. There are cases when a tumor was clearly on an MRI and after much prayer and a second or third scan, the tumor was completely gone, with no explanation other than God’s healing hand.
God works through a combination of medical treatment, natural remedies, and the prayers of His people. As you exercise wisdom and diligence to do what you can to be healthy, do you have faith that He can heal your physical infirmities today?
Although God is able to heal any physical ailment we have, sometimes He allows us to endure certain ailments because they cause us to depend more fully on Him and they draw us closer to Him than we’ve been before. Whether God chooses to heal us physically or not, we are to maintain trust in Him that He is good, and that nothing touches our bodies that hasn’t first passed through His loving hands.
2. God Heals the Disease of Sin
Jesus endured in His own body on the cross to heal our sin nature and free us of the ravages of sin.
Isaiah 53:5 NIV But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
Praise God that, through your faith in the death and resurrection of His Son on your behalf, He has already healed you of a sin condition neither you nor any doctor could remedy.
3. God Heals the Disease of Self
We can invite Jesus into our lives and claim the gift of eternal life and call ourselves His children, but there is still the disease of self to be healed, even after the disease of sin has been atoned for.
Romans 7:18, 25, 8:1 NIV For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.
4. God Heals Emotionally
Sometimes emotional wounds can be deeper and more painful than physical injuries or illnesses. God never designed us to experience that kind of grief and sorrow.
We were made to love God and enjoy Him forever in a sin- and disease-free paradise. Yet, our inherent sin from Adam ushered in pain and heartache that still feels foreign to the kind of life we were designed to live.
Jesus heals those kinds of wounds that can’t be cured through surgery, medication, or a positive attitude.
Psalms 147:3 NIV He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
5. God Heals Past Wounds
It’s been said, “time heals all wounds.” I believe that happens when we give our wounds to God and trust that He can heal them in His timing. Raw open wounds don’t heal overnight. But, as we cultivate a lifestyle of trusting God, forgiving others, walking in His light, and clinging to His Word, He heals us of those past wounds we can’t seem to overcome on our own.
Psalms 103:11-12 NIV For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
God can heal you of whatever is in your past because He is the God of fresh starts and new beginnings.
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
6. God Heals Minds and Hearts
Do you have a problem loving someone? Forgiving someone? Moving on past a certain hurt because your mind keeps replaying it? God is the Only One who can take care of that completely.
Allow God to renew your mind—and heal it—through the constant reading and study of Scripture, the company of others who obey His Word, and a continual yielding to the direction and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:2 NIV Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Knowing God is a healer means we must also trust him as Father, as good, as the holder of our future, as the one who has our best interest at heart. When you see him in this light, you will know God’s best for you is not all reserved for this life. Regardless of how good this life is, it will all pass away one day. The best is yet to come, and when this truth is alive in your heart, it allows you to endure, regardless of how he chooses to move in this life.
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