Receiving God's Healing

Q: I know God can heal any sickness, what must I do to receive God's healing, thank you.

A: Thank you for your question. Honestly, there is nothing you can do to receive God's healing. There is false teaching in Christianity that says God's physical healing is a guarantee because of a person's faith in Jesus Christ. Often times verses like 1 Peter 2:24 are used as evidence of this belief. It reads, "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." The healing mentioned in this verse is not physical healing, but refers to the forgiveness of sins. Our debt of sin was paid for eternity by the death of Jesus Christ. His death took away our sins and allowed God to restore His Spirit to those who accept Jesus as their savior. Therefore, what is healed is our relationship with God through the restoration of His life that was lost when Adam sinned. I do not say this to discourage you from your desire to be healed. However, I want you to be clear that God has not promised to heal our physical ailments. 

The miraculous healings that we witness in the Bible were done for a specific purpose. Jesus healed the sick because He wanted to draw attention to Himself. However, in most instances, all people wanted was the healing they could get from Him, but not what He really came to offer. In John 4:48, Jesus says, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.” Jesus said this in response to a request to heal a man's son. Jesus did heal the man's son, but sent the man away. In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, "the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Yet this man, and many like him, only come to Jesus for His physical blessings, not to know Him. Jesus also said, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world (John 16:33)." I would think that physical suffering would qualify as tribulation. Yet, for many Christians, when we suffer we seem to believe that the suffering should not be happening to us, or that our suffering is some sort of punishment for our sins.

If this is how you are feeling, it is a byproduct of the teaching that I referred to earlier. There is nothing in the Bible that promises God's healing. However, the byproduct of believing that God has promised healing that you are not experiencing is to believe that God does not love you. In many instances, a verse like Matthew 17:20 is used to spiritually abuse Christians. In it, Jesus says, "I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Therefore, when a Christian experiences physical suffering they are told that it is because they lack enough "faith" to have it removed or that it is punishment for some sin they have committed. This is completely wrong. Jesus is telling us that it isn't the size of our faith that matters, but the size of our God that matters most. Furthermore, God has to be careful what miracles He performs. One negative byproduct of performing a miracle is the risk of validating a wrong belief. Also, if we experience a miracle once, most likely we are going to expect more miracles. And that becomes our entire focus. And that is why I mentioned that we end up coming to Jesus for what we believe He can give us rather than coming to Him for Him.

One of the most famous passages in the Bible centers around what appears to be the physical suffering of the Apostle Paul. In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul writes about a "thorn in the flesh" that was causing him problems. He asked the Lord to remove it three times. What reply did he receive from God? "He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)." God did not heal Paul! Paul learned that his suffering would teach him about God's grace. My heart goes out to you for whatever it is that you are suffering. However, if physical healing does not come, your God is still with you. Ask Him "What can I learn about You from this, Lord?" And trust that He will respond. But, also, remember one great truth. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Romans 8:18)." Your physical suffering is only temporary. God has promised us the ultimate healing when we go to be with Him in glory. We will receive a new, spiritual body; free from the physical suffering so prevalent in our lives now. My prayer is that you can find the peace of God in the midst of your suffering. May God continue to reveal His truths to you.