There is a question that often pops up when someone doesn’t receive the healing they desire from the Lord.  This question needs to be addressed so it can be laid to rest once and for all.

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Here is the question.

“If God really loves me, why doesn’t He heal me?”

The Ultimate Sign

The demonstration of God’s love for us is not seen in a prayer He does or does not answer.  The ultimate sign of God’s love was forever seen on a hill outside of Jerusalem many centuries ago when His Son died on our behalf.  There we see God loving us when we were at our absolute worst.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:7 – 8  ESV

He demonstrated this amazing love at a time when we had absolutely no love for Him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1st John 4:10  ESV

Even though we were running in the opposite direction from God as hard and fast as we could go, God, because of His great love, raised us to life with Christ so we could experience His amazing kindness forever.

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  Ephesians 2:1 – 7  NLT

As I stated in a previous post, divine healing, great blessing that it is, is temporary.  It will one day come to an end.  What God in His love accomplished through Jesus Christ in His death, resurrection, and ascension is eternal.  That is what we need to keep in focus.

No Separation

Let’s call to mind the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8:35 – 39 (I like it in the New Living Translation).

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When the apostle says nothing can separate us from the love of God, he means nothing.

Your cancer cannot separate you from the love of God.

Your crooked foot cannot separate you from the love of God.

Your heart disease cannot separate you from God’s love.

The only thing that can really cut us off from the love of God is becoming bitter over our circumstances.  It’s not that God stops loving us.  Bitterness puts us in a place where we cannot experience the love of God.  Not good choice.

A Personal Experience

Many years ago I was part of a group that believed strongly in divine healing.  The thinking back then was that every single person should be healed every single time.  Any failure to receive healing was basically looked upon as the sick person’s lack of faith.

Long story short, I landed in the hospital with acute bronchitis.  I felt so condemned.  Here I was, a preacher in a church that believed in healing, and I was in the hospital!!  I figured my ministry was over.

However, as I lay in my hospital bed staring up at the ceiling feeling so defeated, I suddenly became very aware of the Lord’s Presence hovering over me.  In that moment I also became very aware of one distinct thing:

He loved me.

Right then.

Right there.

There was no condemnation coming from Him.

At that moment I didn’t care what anyone else thought.  I knew my King loved me and that was all that mattered.

Lay It to Rest

Dear one, let the issue be laid to rest once and for all.  God loves you!  Period!  He forever demonstrated it on the Cross of Calvary.  Please don’t allow your difficult circumstances to make you bitter.  Celebrate the love of God and keep right on living in the Reign.

M