Can Christians claim their healing?

I just came from the hospital, where Sebastian was admitted to the CTICU again on Friday. He is very sick from the pneumonia and had a setback on Friday afternoon. He struggled to breathe so eventually became tired and turned blue. After being stabilised, he was transferred to an isolated room in the CTICU and put on the big old oscillator again. He has slowly showed some improvement since Friday, so we trust that the pneumonia will continue to improve so that he can start breathing on his own again soon. I also bumped into a couple we met at the NNICU a few months ago. Their son is 8 months old now and has not been home yet. He is also in the CTICU at the moment and still not doing great. My heart really bleeds for them! Monika and I were saying that just when you think you have it bad, you meet people that seem to be suffering even more. You never have good reason to feel sorry for yourself!!! 

With all the suffering going on around us lately, the same question seems to keep popping up. Why is there so much suffering? Are Christians not supposed to be exempt from the sufferings of this world? Can a Christian not simply 'claim' their healing and live in victory? Is our faith a catalyst for getting our healing? Well, since it is Sunday today, I think a Bible study on this subject will be in order!

When we study the gospels, i.e. Jesus' ministry on earth, we can learn a lot on this subject. Did Jesus always heal people? Did Jesus only heal those that believed that He was God? Did Jesus require you to say a certain prayer in order to qualify for healing? Is there a working formula that we can apply in order to get what seems good and right and fair?

In John 5:1-8, Jesus practically stepped over all the lame, blind and paralised people who were gathered at the pool of Bethesda, in order to get to one man who was an invalid, and heal him. All the sick people gathered there because they believed that if the water stirs, the first person to get into the pool will be healed. This man has been an invalid for 38 years, but could never get into the pool in time. He probably didn't even know who Jesus was, so he asked Jesus to help him get into the pool. But God obviously wanted to heal this man, for whatever reason we don't know. And without even knowing or asking Jesus to heal him, Jesus healed him!

In Luke 17, Jesus came across 10 lepers. They saw Jesus and lifted their voices, saying 'Jesus, Master, have mercy on us'. He told them to go and show themselves to the priests, which was a law from Liviticus in the old testament (remember this was before Jesus died, so this is no longer required today), something that had to be done after being healed from leprosy. As they did this, they were healed. We can argue and say that all 10 of them obviously had enough faith to be healed, which is why Jesus healed them. But when only one returned to praise God and thank Jesus, Jesus asked, 'Where are the other 9?'.  Interestingly, Jesus said to him 'Your faith has made you well'. So all 10 were made well yet only one had faith, according to Jesus? But how? When he came back, he praised God for really being God. So he became a believer, someone with faith in God, a saving faith. And because of this, his soul was made well, in addition to his body. 

And in John 11, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus was dead, so he couldn't believe, and neither did anybody else believe that he could be raised from the dead. They were already mourning and were mad because Jesus did not come earlier. 

We can analyse many more examples, but the fact is, sometimes Jesus healed a person because of someone else's faith, sometimes he healed people who were not believers, sometimes he healed some while not healing others, and sometimes he did miracles even when there was only disbelief. Less than a third of the recorded miracles occurred with the confession of people's faith. And nobody 'claimed' their healing, but rather knew that it was God's mercy they needed. If God depended on man for faith to perform healing, we all would be looking to ourselves for power instead of relying on God.

Throughout the Bible, God's people are not exempt from sickness and premature death. 

Elisha died from a sickness even though he had a double portion of God's Spirit. (2 Kings 13:14-20)

Paul had a 'thorn in the flesh', a messanger from Satan to buffet him. In 2 Corinthians 12 he asked the Lord 3 times to remove it, but God said NO, because this buffeting had a greater purpose. God knew Paul needed this in order to keep him humble, because God used him in great ways. God answered "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." So Paul accepted it as being God's will for him. In contrast to what many TV preachers might tell you, God didn't need Paul to be great and victorious in order to let His strength shine through. In fact, it was exactly the opposite. Paul goes on to say "Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

David said in Psalm 119:67 “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy word.”

Hebrews 11 proves that those who God uses to change history are almost always killed or endure suffering at some time. Who wants to be history makers now?

We can clearly see that affliction is allowed in the lives of believers, out of God's love, to fulfill a purpose and it is always for our good and His glory. If every Christian were well and healthy, if perfect health was a guaranteed benefit that just needs to be 'claimed' by those with faith, millions of people would want to get saved straight away, no questions asked – but for the wrong reasons. We come to him because of who He is and how He showed his love for us by sending his Son to die. He is the giver of our lives and deserves our worship, simply for who He is, and not for what he can do for us. 

God usually allows suffering to form our characters. For unbelievers it is used to bring them to know Him. For believers it is for our growth and to bring us closer to Him. Yes, sometimes the devil has a hand in our suffering, but God still has it all under control. Satan cannot do more than what God allows. God is in control and all-knowing and sovereign and all-powerful and infinite in wisdom. The devil is a created being and what he intends for evil, God can turn around for good. 

Sometimes it is not the devil, but God who causes certain 'unwanted' things in our lives: 

Deut. 32:39 “Now see that I, even I, am He, and there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; nor is there any who can deliver from My hand.”

Exodus.4:11 “So the LORD said to him (Moses), “Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?"

When we believe the wrong things about God, e.g. when we form a whole belief system based on who we think God should be, or sometimes by taking a scripture out of context and building our theology on that, without considering the rest of Scripture, we blame Him and become bitter and we loose our faith because we can't make sense of it all. But it is so unnecessary. Lies will put is in bondage, but the truth shall set us free. We need to study our Bibles diligently, because through it God will reveal Himself truthfully to us. And although its difficult to comprehend the fullness of who He is with our little brains, it is important to know that He is far greater than what we can ever think and imagine Him to be. And His goodness and wisdom is so above us, that we should never blame Him or become bitter when things don't seem to make sense or when we can't see the bigger picture. True comfort is found not in knowing why we suffer, but in knowing the One who truly understands our pain (Jesus). We cannot know all the why’s right now, but one day, we will. God puts each one of us on a unique path, specially carved so that we can learn the things we need to learn. Being afflicted does not mean the Lord has ignored you, is punishing you or loves you any less. It can actually mean that he has turned his favor upon you, because he probably cares for your soul more than you do.

So when we are suffering, He promises to be there to help us through it: Psalm 46:1 "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." He didn't promise healing, except healing for our souls through the wonderful work of Jesus: 1 Peter 2:24-25  "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." From this scripture we can see that in context it obviously refers to the healing of our souls, not our bodies as many would believe. (The same principle applies to James 5:15, if you are interested you can read an in depth commentary on that verse here.)

It is obvious from scripture that God is far more concerned for our souls than what He is for our physical comfort. When he heals someone, it is always for the purpose of saving someone's soul, whether it be the healed person's or just a witness'. We can pursue health and happiness now, and sometimes we will have success. But in His presence is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16) And because we partake of his suffering we can participate in his glory later.  (1 Pet 4:13)

What about praying? By all means we should pray for the sick. But with a humble acceptance that God knows best. When we pray, we should pray as Jesus did when he was suffering: “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

The wages of sin is death. But the reward of having our souls healed (not by our works but by grace through Jesus) and thereby becoming the righteousness of God, is far better than anything we might hope for here on earth! May these truths comfort all who are going through difficult trials at the moment and may you find your peace and joy in the true Jesus alone. 

Amen.