Why Doesn’t God Heal Everyone? A Right or a Sign?

God wants to bless His creation and people can be healed in Jesus’ mighty name. Some Christians say healing is a right, others state it is a sign. Praise God that He is unchanging and we can receive healing in and through Jesus Christ. However, not everybody who seeks healing finds it. To many, this is a complete mystery.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much
– James 5:14-16.

Sometimes we just don’t know why people are not healed. Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, but there were evidently others whom He did not pray for and who did not receive healing (John 5:1-9). On occasions, power emanated from Jesus Christ so that everyone was healed (Luke 6:19), or just one person amidst a crowd (Luke 8:46).

There is nothing wrong in using medicine, seeing a doctor or going to hospital, it makes sense to use the skills of those who have been medically trained. In the Old Testament, we have prophetic allusion to those skilled in binding up wounds, setting bones, the use of balm and medicines. Herbs and plants were used in medicine. The apostle Paul saw healings and miracles and wrote: ‘Luke the beloved physician’ (Colossians 4:14). Paul prescribed means for Timothy’s ‘frequent infirmities’ (1 Timothy 5:23).

God can allow sickness to get us to a place where He wants us to be, a time of recuperation or a time to hear what He wants from us. Elijah rested at the brook after he fled from Jezebel. Whilst Job, the wealthiest man in his day was attacked by Satan with painful boils, it was in the permissive will of God and Job was ultimately more blessed in the latter days of his life than at the beginning. The apostle Paul was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him humble because of his majestic revelations.

God may allow self-afflicted illness to heal over its natural course so that we learn a valuable lesson, not to abuse ourselves in the future. Neglect of the body is sin, overeating, under-eating, lack of exercise, rest (mind and body) or sleep. Our body is the temple of God; look after it!

Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup [Lord’s Supper/Communion]. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body
– 1 Corinthians 11:28-29

The body naturally wears out and deteriorates and we all have to die someday. Is prayer for healing, for a Christian in their eighties, who has a poor quality of life, selfish on our part? Should they not depart and be with the Lord, which is far better? ‘Absent from the body and to be present with the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 5:8). Even Paul was torn between the two – ‘Having a desire to depart and be with Christ which is far better,’ but he knew the church at Philippi needed his help (Philippians 1:23-24). Others have sustained injuries, disabilities or a terminal illness that gives them no quality of life, and God can bring them home in His time frame.

There is a danger in giving false hope that does not allow the person concerned to make their peace with God, especially after continued prayer with no visible results, should they not be allowed to face death, settle their affairs and die with dignity, a holy death in Christ Jesus? Healing may only be a temporary reprieve from death or may give them extra time to make their peace. An untimely death can happen for a variety of reasons, good or bad.

For some people it has ‘been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake’
Philippians 1:29

Jesus ‘learned obedience by the things which He suffered and having been perfected…’.
Hebrews 5:8-9

In addition, a distinction should be made between praying for ‘healing’ and the person needing ‘deliverance’ (exorcism). Has the enemy bound them and caused the harm? Demons may have brought about the affliction; as in the woman bent over double for eighteen years who was bound by Satan (Luke 13:11-16). Therefore, they do not need prayer for healing, but to be set free and released from demons in Jesus’ mighty name, then they can be delivered and healed in His mighty name.

Although bodily healing is one of the present benefits of the atoning work of Christ on the cross, the Scripture definitely shows that all who truly seek bodily healing do not find it. It is possible for a person to be suffering from some physical infirmity, and yet be in the will of God.’ Job received painful boils directly from Satan who had received permission from God (Job 2:1-10). Jesus said to the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness,” and Paul boasted in his ‘infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
– Healing evangelist George Jeffreys (1889-1962)

One cannot be dogmatic concerning the nature of Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Taking for granted that the messenger of Satan which buffeted him was some physical infirmity, Paul under the circumstances set a fine example of importunate prayer and faith for Divine healing. He manifested implicit faith in his claim to deliverance by presenting it until the revelation came that he was to suffer. Paul’s attitude towards his thorn in the flesh, instead of being an argument against Divine healing, is a weighty one in its favour. We maintain that every child of God, provided he complies with relative conditions, can rightly seek healing, unless he is assured that it is God’s will for him to suffer (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).’
– Healing evangelist George Jeffreys (1889-1962)

‘…All were not healed in the days of our Lord (Mark 6:5-6). …We do not attribute all failures to the lack of faith. There might be other reasons why people are not healed. Hindrances in the lives of seekers, and unwillingness to obey the commandments of the Lord, can hinder the work of healing. Again, some are allowed to suffer for disciplinary and other purposes,’ explains Jeffreys.