Does God Always Heal? (Part II)

by | Feb 19, 2019 | Inspiration, Reflection | 0 comments

Does God Always Heal? (Part II)

by Josh Kim

In part one of this blog series, I shared that it is always God’s will to heal due to the sacrifice, or atonement, of Jesus. The atonement of Jesus through the cross purchased full salvation for our entire being: our spirits (reconciling humanity with God), our souls (forgiveness of sins and renewing of the mind), and our bodies (healing of sicknesses and suffering). In part two of this blog series, I want to briefly explain the various reasons that may perhaps prevent healing. But ultimately, I want to clarify the nature of the kingdom of God, and the time we are living in, to help make sense of the mystery of divine healing.

FACTORS PREVENTING HEALING

Having faith in God’s will to heal is the biggest factor for healing as I have mentioned in part one. But it is often human tendency to oversimplify things that we do not fully understand. So when healing does not take place, our tendency is to create over-simplifications, such as a particular person was not healed due to their lack of faith. This only produces false guilt within people, which is never God’s will. In order to avoid these simplistic answers or approaches to healing, here are a few reasons why a particular person may not be healed (for more in-depth descriptions, you can refer to a great resource for healing called Healing by Francis MacNutt):

  • Lack of faith. In Matthew 17:14-20, the disciples are rebuked by Jesus for not being able to cure a epileptic demoniac due to their lack of faith. Everyone, even for those who do believe in healing, needs to continually grow in faith. But lack of faith is not the only reason.
  • Redemptive suffering. At times, God does use sickness for a higher purpose. Apostle Paul gives account of how his suffering was redemptive for the sake of the Kingdom (Colossians 1:24; Galatians 4:13-14). Sometimes, sickness can be an opportunity to suffer with Christ and also mature in Christ.
  • A false value attached to suffering. But having said that, most illnesses are not redemptive and sent by God as a blessing. However, because people mistakenly believe that God sent the sickness, they often feel guilty asking God for healing to take it away. Therefore, even if they receive prayer, their unrenewed minds resist and can block the healing because at the core of their beliefs, God is the cause of sickness.
  • Sin. Sometimes sin in our lives is connected to our source of physical pain, especially in regards to unforgiveness and bitterness. Healing cannot take place unless those sins are dealt with first. This is significant because even if healing did take place physically, the symptoms of physical pain will return since the root of the issue is primarily not dealt with.
  • Not using the natural means of preserving health. Sometimes our physical ailments are a result of simply not resting our body enough or balancing our lives. If I’m dealing with anxiety because I worry too much, hypertension because I overwork myself, knee pains because I eat poorly adding more weight, or heart issues because I smoke, I need to change my life through natural means before supernatural healing can take place. “You should not expect that prayer will compensate for the lack of discipline that has led to your sickliness.”1
  • “Now is not the time…” Sometimes healings are instantaneous. Sometimes healing happens with a delay. Sometimes healing occurs in a process, gradually. Sometimes healing does not occur. But we don’t need to be disappointed because nothing happens on the first prayer. We can be assured God has his own timing.
  • Demonic interference. The first form of demonic interference preventing healing are curses. In our modern and Western culture, unlike traditional cultures, the idea of curses may seem outdated. But just because we are unfamiliar with it does not mean that we can deny the possibility of the power of curses causing sickness and death in lives. (Thankfully Jesus broke and reversed the power of curses, and he brings healing.) The second form of demonic interference is generational bondages. We see how certain illnesses, and even addictions, are passed down from generation to generation. Until the bondages are identified and broken off, healing may be prevented in the current generation.

“THE ALREADY” AND “THE NOT YET”

However, the most comprehensive and biblical reason why healing does not take place is connected to truly understanding the time we are living in. Specifically, we are in between the first and second coming of Christ and living between “the already” and the “not yet”. When Jesus came and pronounced that His Kingdom was at hand (Mark 1:15), he brought his Kingdom into our world. Therefore, we have access to all benefits of salvation, like healing, as God’s Kingdom is at hand.

However, Jesus’ Kingdom is not fully established as 1 Corinthians 13:12 states that “in this age we ‘know in part,’ but we are assured of a time when we ‘shall know fully’”. Yes, Jesus secured physical healing for us today through the atonement because his Kingdom has come and is “already” here. But at the same time, his Kingdom is “not yet” fully established preventing us from experiencing healing one hundred percent of the time. John Wimber says, “We still live in a time that awaits the fullness of the Kingdom of God, what Scripture calls the age to come or the renewal of all things (Matthew 19:28).”2

D-DAY

On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces stormed the beach of Normandy during World War II. They defeated the Nazi army and gained a significant victory that day, also referred to as D-Day. While the Allied forces officially ended the war a little over a year later on September 2, 1945, many historians believe that the war was actually won on D-Day because that battle significantly shifted the tides of the war. So while D-Day was ultimately the day of defeat for the Nazi forces in 1944, it wasn’t until 1945 that the entire Nazi regime was completely defeated.

In the same way, Jesus defeated satan’s kingdom once and for all on the cross. The atonement on the cross was our D-Day. However, his kingdom has yet to be fully established here on earth until his second coming. And until then, the lingering effects of sin and satan’s kingdom remain and not everyone is healed fully. This does not mean that God is not sovereign or that He is powerless. Instead, it proves that “though the atonement provides divine healing, we have no right to presume that unless God heals in every instance, there is something wrong with our faith or God’s faithfulness.”3

THEOLOGY OF POWER AND PAIN

As mentioned above, oftentimes, it is human tendency to oversimplify things. We fall into these traps of thinking we must choose one thing over another. In our case, we’re asking, “Should healing happen all the time? Or should it not?” I want to suggest to you that the answer to both questions is: Yes. Instead of choosing one over the other, we must both have a theology of power and a theology of pain, and understand that both these truths must be held in tension.

A theology of power believes that Jesus’ atonement proves that it’s “God’s will that every believer have power over sickness. To respect God’s will means to seek and apply that power.”4 A theology of power understands that satan’s kingdom is defeated and that God’s kingdom is already here. A theology of power encourages believers to not be passive, in regards to sickness, but pursue after the things Jesus purchased for us through the cross.

At the same time, a theology of pain acknowledges the reality of illness, pain, suffering, and death that we experience in life. A theology of pain understands that even though Jesus’ Kingdom broke through, Jesus’ Kingdom is “not yet” fully established on earth. A theology of pain encourages believers that if healing does not come in this age, we still have hope and assurance that we will experience the fullness of salvation in the age to come, when Jesus will wipe away all our tears (Revelation 21:4).

If we only hold onto a theology of pain, we will be denying the power, goodness, and willingness of God to heal his people. And if we only hold onto a theology of power, we will be denying and oversimplifying the reality of the brokenness in our world where people daily experience suffering, sickness, and pain.

MYSTERY OF HEALING

But by embracing and holding both theologies in tension, we honor and uphold that God is powerful, good, and willing regardless of whether healing takes place or not. Because sometimes God’s grace reveals itself in a person’s healing. And at other times, God’s grace reveals itself in His presence being with us in our suffering. Ultimately, healing is a mystery of God’s love and all we can do is to surrender to the Divine Healer.

I felt this mystery of healing the most back in 2014. My missions team and I got to meet Maria in a really crazy way where we knew God had set up a divine appointment for us to meet her. On top of that, the Holy Spirit even confirmed it with a supernatural sign at that very moment. Maria had been suffering with terminal lung cancer and the doctors were unsure how long she had left to live. But because we met her in such a supernatural way, we really believed God allowed us to meet her because he wanted to heal her. So we prayed for her believing that God would do the impossible and that cancer would bow down to the name of Jesus. However, a few months later, I was unfortunately told that Maria had passed away and it brought me to my knees.

For a moment, I was confused because I believed that it was God’s will to heal. Then, I thought I should give up pursuing healing because if healing does not happen all the time, especially after a supernatural encounter such as the one with Maria, then there is no point in going after it. And over the years, I’ve seen more and more of this mystery of healing where tumors are healed instantaneously but minor back problems are not. Where non-believers with zero faith get healed while believers with the utmost faith are still suffering.

But I made a choice in my pursuit of healing. Yes, we live in between the two comings of Christ and so we might not be certain of every healing. But that does not mean that I’m not going to go down swinging, contending, and interceding for divine healing. I’m not going down without a fight because Jesus did not pay such a costly price for us to not contend for divine healing made available to us through the sacrifice of his own life.

At the same time, I also made a choice in my pursuit that if after everything, healing still does not take place, the best that I can do is to bow down before the mystery that is God. I fully believe in God’s healing power and praying for healing, while at the same time realizing that there is a mystery involved and that sometimes people will not get healed on this side of heaven. However, it’s my responsibility to obey and pray with every amount of faith I have while it is God’s responsibility to heal.  

I want to end and leave you with this statement by Kathryn Kuhlman, a healing evangelist in the 1940s to 1970s, that perfectly summarizes the mystery of healing with both the utmost faith and sobering humility:

“I believed that absolutely, come hell or high water, it was God’s will for everybody, without exception to be healed. But I’ve watched this thing very carefully. Now I see that we can’t demand or command that God do anything. In general, I definitely believe that it is God’s will to heal. But I can’t say absolutely what is or is not his will in a particular case. There are something I’ve learned just not to touch.”

HEALING PRAYER FOR ALL WHO READ

Jesus, I thank you for the cross that purchased for us the fullness of salvation for us. I thank you that by your wounds, we are healed. Lord, you are the Divine Healer because you were the only one willing to pay the price of death on the cross. So I ask that you would heal each and every single person in need of healing reading this right now. Your blood covers them and is bringing life to their bodies. I command every sickness and pain in the body to leave right now in your powerful name and ask for your healing presence to rest upon them. Even right now, they would feel the manifestation of your love through your love language of healing.

And Jesus, I also want to pray that each person reading this would be activated with a new level of boldness, courage, and faith to go after healing. They would know that it is always your will to heal and they would desire to take risks of faith by praying for their families, friends, and non-believers because their trust is in you, the Divine Healer. Let new testimonies arise from their lives and risks as they share the good news of the Gospel: that Jesus heals yesterday, today, and forever. We love you, Lord! Amen.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

Here’s a collection of books and resources if you are further interested in learning more about divine healing and God’s love for us. Hope they are helpful and impactful for you as they were for me:

READ PART I

  1. Francis MacNutt, Healing, (Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1974), location 2417 (Kindle version)
  2. John Wimber, Power Healing, (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1987), 154.
  3. Ibid – John Wimber, Power Healing, (San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row, 1987), 154.
  4. Jordan Seng, Miracle Work: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Supernatural Ministries, (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press Books, 2013), 83.

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