2 Corinthians 12:7-10
When it comes to physical healing, often confusion reigns. To combat it, I’d like to point out five “laws” of suffering. These “laws” will do more to help the hurting and erase their confusion than perhaps anything else they could read. Yesterday, we looked at laws one through four. Today we’ll look at number five.
Law Five: It is not God’s will that everyone be healed in this life.
Those who believe it is, invariably support their convictions with the words of Isaiah:
By His scourging we are healed. (53:5b)
“There is healing in Christ’s atonement!” they shout. Of course there is! But what kind? Check the context, O shouter. By His scourging we are spiritually healed. The whole flow of thought in the 53rd chapter has to do with the inner, spiritual needs of humanity and Christ’s priceless provision. That is why He was wounded and bruised. That is why He died...not to heal sick people but to give life to dead ones.
Take Paul. Three times he asked God to remove the thorn. Three times he got a “no” answer (2 Corinthians 12:7–9). Following that traumatic experience he stated he was “well content with weaknesses...difficulties” because even without healing, the Lord proved Himself sufficient and strong in the apostle’s life (2 Corinthians 12:10).
There they are. The Five Suffering Laws regarding sin, sickness, health, and healing. Go back to Part One and read each law again. Write them in the back of your Bible. Sure as the world, you are going to run into folks who will wonder why they (or their loved ones) are not being healed. Maybe God will use your words to quiet their hearts and remove their confusion.
Just for the record, let me clarify two matters.
Am I suggesting God does not perform healing? Am I discounting divine healing?
Absolutely not.
Every time healing happens, God has done it. It occurs daily. Occasionally it is miraculous. More often, it is aided by proper diagnosis, expert medical care, essential medicinal assistance, plus common sense. No hocus pocus. No mumbo jumbo. No hot-shot carnal circus. When God heals there is no way humans can grab the glory.
Am I declaring God does not need healers? Am I discounting divine healers?
Absolutely.
That’s the obvious conclusion to the Five Suffering Laws. Maybe you’d better read them again. Healers prey on those who don’t know the facts. And by the way, they never visit hospitals and make “healing calls” with physicians. Nor do they announce the “fallout problem”—the vast number of those whose healing didn’t “take.”
Seems to me we may have the malpractice gun pointed in the wrong direction.
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Excerpted from Come Before Winter and Share My Hope, Copyright © 1985, 1994 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.