WHY AREN'T PEOPLE HEALED?

If divine healing is for all, then why isn't everybody supernaturally healed? There are eight possible reasons:

1. Lack of Faith for Healing. Faith is the atmosphere for miracles and healing. Doubt and unbelief are definite miracle killers. When Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth, He was greatly despised by His own people. They scoffed at Him for being just the son of a simple carpenter (Mark 6:2-3). Jesus marveled at their unbelief and could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them (6:5-6).

When a Christian adopts an attitude that says, "Well, let God first heal me; then I'll believe in divine healing!" That is the surest way of hindering God's healing power. God's way is the way of faith—you believe first with conviction, then you will see the miracles of God taking place in your life.

2. Unforgiveness and Bitterness. James says that you must "confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" (James 5:16). The reason is because unforgiveness is a major hindrance to healing. It is estimated that up to 80 percent of all sicknesses are psychosomatic. That means they are a direct result of mental and emotional distresses. If you don't deal with unresolved anger, bitterness, unforgiveness and resentment, you are going to stay sick not because God wants to punish you but because your sinfulness keeps you from receiving the healing God wants for you.

3. Demonic Oppression. In Luke 13:11-17, Jesus healed a woman who had entertained a demonic spirit for 18 years until she was all physical twisted and bent over. Jesus had to cast out the demonic spirit of infirmity from her before she could be healed. Very often, healing cannot take place until you are delivered from the demonic oppression of Satan.

4. Blatant Sinning and Rebellion. Even the average sinner in the world knows that reckless living, heavy drinking, chain smoking, drug abuse, and immoral escapades all constitute "playing with fire." And you can't play with fire without getting burnt. Alcoholism can cause liver sclerosis. Smoking can cause lung cancer. Drug abuse and homosexuality can bring about AIDS. Promiscuity can afflict you with many sexually-transmitted diseases.

The Bible is very clear on blatant sinning: "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear" (Ps. 66:18). To "regard" is to cherish and refuse to give up. If God doesn't hear your prayers, you won't experience divine healing. Conversely, you will find that as soon as you genuinely repent from those sins and vices, God will start answering your prayers to prosper and walk in health (3 John 2).

5. Intellectual Pride. In Luke 5:17, Jesus was meeting in a house and the power of God was present to heal. But for the Pharisees and teachers of the law, their religious and intellectual pride prevented them from being touched by God's power.

So many Christians have been contaminated by bad theology or erroneous religious suggestions like "God doesn't heal anymore" and "Healing is not for today!" Perhaps they have been disappointed by a healing they once needed for themselves or a loved one that did not take place. And after that disappointment, they cannot believe God for another one again. Others may have been hurt or offended by a healing evangelist that had a scandalous fall from grace. They then somehow associate divine healing to disreputable preachers.

6. Poor Management of the Human Body. Paul's coworker, Epaphroditus, worked so hard that he had a total physical collapse—he was "sick almost unto death" (Phil. 2:27,30). It could have been a heart attack, a stroke, or extreme physical exhaustion. Just because you are serving the Lord doesn't excuse you from taking good care of your human body. If you don't manage your body properly—through proper nutrition, exercise and rest—you will fall sick. In extreme cases, you may even die before your time.

7. We Live in an Imperfect, Broken Down World. We live in a fallen, broken down world cursed by sin; a world that has basically rejected God. We have wars, famines, tsunamis, earthquakes, plagues, diseases and widespread epidemics like the mad cow disease, SARS, bird flu, AIDS, etc. Being a part of fallen humanity also means that some of us may be born deformed, physically disabled or mentally challenged. Eventually, all of us will have to die.

The good news is that God has put in place a plan of salvation for all fallen mankind. When we receive Christ, our soul is redeemed. Our mind gets renewed as we grow in the Word. Our wounded emotions get increasingly healed by the day. Ultimately, our body will be totally perfect when we meet the Lord face to face in eternity.

8. God's Sovereignty. When all is said and done, we must all bow to the sovereignty of God. This is not a fatalistic view of God and life, but rather an acknowledgment that our good God knows how to take care of us. Some of the greatest Bible characters had ailments that they battled with all their lives. Paul had an eye affliction that he was never totally healed from. Timothy had a persistent stomach weakness. Trophimus was left sick at Miletus.

While we desire for all to be healed, not all will be healed. Remember that when Jesus went to the pool of Bethesda (which was a type of ancient hospital), only one man was healed that day. And Jesus' explanation, in that context, was that He would only do what He sees His Father is doing.

Consider the lame man by the Gate Beautiful. Every time Jesus went to the feasts in Jerusalem, He would have seen the lame man. That would have been on more than one occasion. Yet, He never felt led to heal the man. It was only after the Day of Pentecost that Peter and John prayed for the lame man's healing.

In the light of Scripture, we must accept the truth that we are neither perfect people nor do we live in a perfect world. Christianity cannot be reduced into a set of techniques and formulas—if you do this and this, you will get that and that. Christianity is a dynamic relationship with a great God whose infinite wisdom we cannot fathom with our finite minds. When we have prayed, walked in holiness, believed for healing, and yet there is no result, we must then have a resolute faith in a God who knows what is best for us in that given moment.

Part of spiritual maturity is to have faith in the character and nature of God as revealed in the Bible—that He is a Healer who longs to heal us. Yet, this same faith gives us the capacity to keep believing and loving God no matter what measure of healing comes our way. HT