Why Doesn't God Heal Everyone?

In Exodus 15:26, God declares that He is the healer of His people.  This passage refers specifically to healing from physical disease.  And He said, "If you will give earnest heed to the voice of the LORD your God, and do what is right in His sight, and give ear to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have put on the Egyptians; for I, the LORD, am your healer."

Often, Christians have an oversimplified idea of healing.  They think that, if they are sick, they have only to ask God to heal them and, because God loves them, He will heal them straight away.  Healing is seen as proof of a person’s faith and of God’s love.  I have seen people hurt greatly by the false teaching that God always wants to heal every illness.  This is because that belief can cause a massive amount of guilt and disillusionment for the afflicted in those times when God actually chooses not to heal.

The implication is that the suffering Christian didn’t quite believe enough or is hiding some sort of sin.  I have seen Christians destroyed in their faith over this erroneous teaching.  This idea persists in some churches in spite of the truth that every parent understands.  You do not give your children everything they ask for every time, no matter how much you love them.

I have struggled with my own personal "thorn in the flesh" for years.  I'm referring to 2 Corinthians 12:8-9, where the Apostle Paul stated, “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

 Like Paul, I pleaded (in my case for years) for relief, for healing.  After I was told my legs were going to be amputated, Alice and me, my church family, and our many friends around the world prayed and prayed that God would heal me.  But He didn’t.  Some thought I may not have enough faith.  Some thought I may have had some unconfessed sin in my life.  And some thought that maybe we weren’t praying correctly.  So, which was it?  Eventually, like the apostle, I resolved in my weakness to live in the sufficiency of God's grace.

The Bible records a considerable number of physical healing accounts in both the Old and New Testaments.  And in the ministry of Jesus and His disciples, healing miracles are prominently highlighted. Throughout the history of the church, Christians like Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, and in modern times Joni Eareckson Tada, Nick Vujicic, and countless others have all suffered ongoing physical illnesses, disabilities, and hardships.  Are they all unbelieving spiritual failures?  

Surely God’s purposes are greater than making all Christians healthy and wealthy.  So, if God by His own nature declares Himself Healer, why doesn’t God heal everyone?  Why did God use Paul to heal the father of Publius who was ill with fever and dysentery, as well as many other sick people, yet not his beloved disciple Timothy who suffered from frequent stomach illnesses? (See Acts 28:8)                                                                                                                                                                                                              

In Romans 9:21, the Apostle Paul wrote, “Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?”

Perhaps you are suffering from a sickness right now.  You have prayed every healing Bible verse you know, and still, you're left wondering, “Why won't God heal me?”  Maybe you've recently lost a loved one to cancer or some other terrible disease.  It's only natural to ask the question, “Why does God heal some people but not others?”

The quick and obvious answer to the question rests in God's sovereignty.  God is in control and ultimately He knows what's best for His creation.  Now, before we continue, I want to admit something.  I do not fully understand all of the reasons God does not heal.  During my quest for answers about healing, I was fortunate to learn a few things.  And so I will pass those on to you even though there are some things that will not be accepted by everyone.

It is difficult to hear, but it is not always God’s will to heal a person physically.  A person may sincerely pray and truly have faith that God can heal but it does not mean that God is obligated to grant to us whatever we want. (See 1 John 5:14)  Sometimes God’s blessings come in other ways besides physical healing.

If it were always God’s will for people to be healed, then everyone would be healed every time he or she became ill.  If good health were always God’s will, then Christians would never die.  We can’t blame someone’s malady on a lack of faith, for we know, biblically, that God sometimes uses illness to accomplish His will.  Also, it’s not just wayward believers who get sick. Paul left Trophimus sick in Miletus (See 2 Timothy 4:20), and Paul himself had a physical ailment that the Lord declined to heal. (See 2 Corinthians 12:7–9)

Furthermore, the twelve apostles did not heal everyone, either.  Often, there were Christians left in poor health in spite of the apostolic power.  Paul says to Timothy, “…use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.” (1 Timothy 5:23)  Why didn’t Paul just lay hands on Timothy and heal him?  It wasn’t because Timothy didn’t have enough faith, it was because it was not God’s will to heal Timothy that way.

I think Isaiah 45:9 is appropriate because Isaiah wrote, “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker—an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!  Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'?”

A woe is not just grief or complaining, it is a judgment from God.  We can argue or doubt or even get angry at God, but it should always be done in a respectful way because we don’t know one billionth of 0.1% of God’s ways because His ways are not just hard to grasp (and they are), they are past finding out.  The Apostle Paul wrote, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (Romans 11:33)

 It’s a matter of trust. I trust the Potter.  The Potter always knows what He’s doing, even if it doesn’t look like it to the clay pot.  We can question God but it won’t change our circumstances.  There were times that the Psalmist questioned God, but if you keep reading toward the end of the psalm, he always goes back to praising, thanking, and worshiping God, so he doesn’t stay in his anger and doubts. (See Psalm 42:9b)  I think we all have seasons in our life when we question God, but we don’t camp out there all year long.

The healing ministry was not for anyone’s personal convenience; rather, it was a sign from God, to the Jews of the Old Covenant primarily, and of the validity of the apostles’ message.  Sometimes, people have a tendency to seek the miracle, look for the amazing, and in the context of religion, they put their faith in the experience instead of God.  This is idolatry.  Perhaps God does not heal more than He does because He doesn't want people to put their faith in the experience, rather than in Him.  This seems to be the case in John 6:2, “And a great multitude was following Him because they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.” 

We are not living in the apostolic days today.  Of course, God can and does heal today when He wants to. The question we need to ask in any given situation is, what does God want?  Does He desire to heal the individual in this life, or does He have another plan to show His glory through weakness?  Someday, all sickness and death will be eradicated. (See Revelation 21:4)  And, to reiterate, our faith should not be in healing, but in God—even when we are sick and downtrodden.  The hard part is not in thanking God when He heals you or a loved one. The hard part is thanking God for all things including those times when He chooses not to heal.

Why does God choose to heal some and not others?  I can honestly say, “I don’t know.”  I do know that He’s trustworthy and has faithfully promised, “He will not fail you or forsake you." (Deuteronomy 31:6)  This promise is one that a Christian can, and should remember often.

While this post falls far short of an exhaustive look at healing in the Bible, we can be sure that suffering for Christians is not forever (heaven awaits), we can glorify God in the core of our suffering.  “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28)  

Someday I will walk again!  Until then, there is a greater healing, the cleansing of sinful hearts, that God performs every day.

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