This is part 7 of a 10-part series. View the entire series here.
God is sovereign over our minds, bodies, and hearts. All throughout the gospels Jesus heals physical ailments, mental ailments, and spiritual ailments.
In Exodus 15:36, God Himself says, “For I am the Lord who heals you” (NLT). In this verse, the Hebrew word for heals is rapha. God is identifying Himself to the Israelites as the Healer—of physical disorders and diseases, but more importantly, as the Healer of sin.
God can and will forgive and heal the sin of anyone who turns to Him in repentance—always, every single time, without fail. That is the ultimate healing. Matthew 9:2 says, “Some people brought to Him a paralyzed man on a mat. Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, ‘Be encouraged, my child! Your sins are forgiven’” (NLT).
God also has the power to heal every single disease, disorder, and ailment that afflicts the human body, as we see in Matthew 4:23: “Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And He healed every kind of disease and illness” (NLT).
But while God will always heal spiritually through the forgiveness of sin, He doesn’t always heal physically. And that’s an incredibly tough pill to swallow. Sometimes God uses our afflictions for a higher purpose. Maybe it’s so we can relate to others who are going through the same thing. Maybe it’s so we grow in our capacity to compassionately care for our brothers and sisters. Maybe, on this side of eternity, we’ll never understand what the reason is.
It can be very hard, very confusing, and very frustrating to endure years—or even decades—of pain and sickness without ever being healed, or even seeing a greater purpose behind the suffering.
If this is your story or the story of someone in your life, know that God has not abandoned you. He has not forgotten you. He sees your pain and is with you in every single moment. In Deuteronomy 31:8, God says, “Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; He will neither fail you nor abandon you” (NLT).
The question remains, though: Why does God heal some people and not others? How can He truly be Jehovah-Rapha if He doesn’t heal everyone, every single time?
It may feel like a lack of faith or trust in God to even ask these questions at all. But God isn’t afraid of our questions. All throughout the Bible, we see people crying out to Him, asking why and when and how and please?
The Apostle Paul knew this struggle well. “So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9 NLT).
The answer to Paul’s why is found in the next verse: “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me” (12:10 NLT). In other words, you might be the only one who can answer the why, based on your specific circumstances and how God wants to use them. It’s okay to keep asking the question. Keep pressing in. Keep seeking God.
The good news of the Gospel is that one day God is going to redeem everything back to its original design and purpose. On that day, Jesus is going to return and make all things new—including us. Our bodies will be perfected. Sickness, pain, and suffering will no longer have a place in us or in God’s eternal Kingdom.
But until that day, in all of our pain and affliction, we come to know on the deepest level that God is always good and always worthy of our praise. His grace is enough to get us through each day (2 Corinthians 12:9). He is still the Healer, the Great Physician—even when we can’t understand the way He works.
