James 5:15-16 states “..the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is
sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed
sins, they will be forgiven him… The effective prayer of a righteous man
can accomplish much.” However, if this verse rang true 100% of the
time, there would be no need for hospitals, modern medicine, or medical
treatment of any kind for that matter. The simple truth is that not everyone is
healed in response to prayer. Why is this so? Many people have turned away from
God because He did not heal them in response to the prayers offered up by
themselves and others. Why would God not specially provide miraculous healing
for everyone who calls upon His name? To understand this, we must understand miracles
and special providence.
Special providence is defined as God's intervention into the regular course of things in order
to produce a variation that would not have occurred otherwise but which does
not violate the possibilities of natural law. In other words, special
providence is God’s supernatural intervention into the world through indirect, natural means. Some have falsely stated that
God works either only in nature, or only in history, or only in “important”
matters. Some have gone as far as viewing God simply as a “good luck” charm in
their view of providence.
A
miracle is defined as God’s supernatural intervention into the world through
direct, supernatural means. Miracles are signs (evidence) of the divine origin
of the miracle worker. In other words, God uses miracles to validate His
spokesmen. Miracles are designed to verify His word as being true. They are for
our benefit (that we might understand and believe) but ultimately for His glory
(that we may repent of our sins and turn to Him). God doesn’t perform miracles
without a reason. They are always used as part of His special plan for His name’s
sake. Some have falsely viewed miracles as unexplained natural events, the
inevitable result of God’s mercy and compassion, or arbitrary phenomena.
God's special plan for His glorification is to
establish His kingdom over the earth (Matthew 20:21; Mark 10:37; Psalm 47:2). Ultimately,
this plan will prevail because God works out all things for His own ends
(Proverbs 16:24). God desires for sinners to turn to Him in repentance; He
wants us to live in relationship with Him so that through us, His Kingdom can
be established on earth. So, it can be inferred that the reason for which God
would intervene in the natural order of things in a special and unique way
would be to further His kingdom here on earth.
God
does that which is beneficial to the purpose of furthering His kingdom here on
earth. If healing a person will further that plan, then He will certainly do
so. If not, then there is no reason for Him to do so. God cares less about our
health and comfort than He cares about sinners turning to Him in repentance.
Perhaps God will heal a person of a physical sickness, disease, or ailment so
that they will go out and share their testimony (and preach the Gospel through
it). After all, a testimony is a powerful thing (Rev 12:11), and stories of
physical healing are quite apt to elicit an emotional response from the hearer.
However (and this is very important to understand), not all sickness is
physical.
Sometimes
the physical illness is just the surface, a tangible thing meant to call our
attention to the intangible: a deeper, spiritual sickness that needs to be
healed. If a person is not in a right relationship with God, what good is there
in bringing life to the temporary (physical) while the permanent (spiritual) suffers?
Physical healing, at best, is only temporary. Every human being will eventually
die, but the soul will go on for eternity; whether with God in eternal life or
separated from Him in eternal torment, the soul lingers on forever. Therefore,
the greater need is not for physical healing, but for spiritual healing and
restoration.
The
need for spiritual healing far outweighs the need for physical healing. Things
that happen in the spiritual will sometimes be made manifest in the physical.
If a person does not have Christ dwelling in their heart, it opens the door for
demonic oppression and possession in their life (Matt 12:44-45; Luke 11:24-26).
There is a spiritual void in every person’s life that must be filled by
something. If it is not filled by Christ, it will be filled by demons.
Therefore, sometimes the physical sickness is merely the fruit; it is the
surface manifestation of a deeper, spiritual sickness that must be dealt with
first.
Every
time Jesus healed a person in Scripture, it was because they had faith and
truly believed that He could heal them. They did not doubt Him in their heart.
Though the passage speaks in the context of asking God for wisdom, James 1:6-7
is still applicable to the context of asking God for healing. If a person asks
God for healing, but they doubt His ability to heal them (or whether He will
heal them) in their heart, then God is not going to heal them. Sometimes God
will intentionally delay an answer to prayer (Luke 18:7) in order to test the
faith of the one praying. He doesn’t test it for His own benefit, but for ours,
that we may be strengthened by exercising those spiritual muscles, so that when
harder battles eventually come our way, we will be strong enough to overcome
them.
Ultimately,
it is impossible to predict the mind and will of God. Isaiah 40:28 makes this
clear “…His understanding no one can fathom.” Romans 11:34 and 1 Corinthians
2:16 echo this thought. To state that human beings have any capacity to do so
would be foolish and arrogant. His ways and His thoughts are higher than ours
(Isaiah 55:8-9). It is not our place to say whether a healing would be in the will of God or not. If someone is not healed in response to prayer, there is no
reason to become discouraged or dismayed. The true test of a person’s faith is
not whether they are healed or not, but whether they would remain faithful to
God even if He did not heal them.
Your words are beautiful and well written. Thanks for sending me the link. It really gave me more insight to Christianity.
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