God can do whatever he wishes, however he wishes, whenever he wishes.

Every summer, Community Bible Church does a series in which the congregation picks the topic by completing the question, “What does the Bible say about _______?”

Today’s topic was healing.

Here are links to the major concepts:

Before talking about what the Bible says about healing, it is important to remember: The Origin of Sickness: Fallen People in a Fallen World

Some proclaim that God has made healing available to all people and all we need is the faith to receive it, but sadly, Your Faith Does Not Heal You.

While the belief that we just need enough faith to receive healing comes from good intentions, it can have negative consequences as is seen in A Personal Story.

In case you are tempted to believe others just need enough faith to receive healing, Read This if you think your friend needs more faith to be healed.

We ended the service with a Q&A. Here are the Questions and Answers.

A Story

When I think about the topic of healing, I am reminded of my son.

When he was three he got his fingers slammed in a door. I heard the screams and rescued him. I held him in my lap and did everything in my power to ease the pain.

A few years later he got a splinter in his foot. Much to his objection, I took a needle and attempted to extract the splinter from his foot. I did this for his good. I did it to prevent future pain and to help his foot heal.

In both situations, my son was in my lap screaming from the pain. In the first situation, I tried to prevent the pain. In the second situation, I not only allowed the pain, I was somewhat to blame for it, but I knew the pain was for his own good.

In neither situation was my son able to understand what was happening. He was hurting and he wanted me to fix it.

What was true of him, is true of us.

We are in so much pain that we cannot understand the source of it. We do not know if God is rescuing us from it or if he is actually allowing it so that our hearts can be changed and future pain can be prevented.

We can’t tell the difference, but we can trust him. We can pray for what we want. Yet whatever comes our way, we can trust God because he loves us and can use all things for our good.

When questions about your healing arise:

Take hope that God is sovereign—at minimum he has given his divine permission for the pain to be present, at maximum he is actually orchestrating it for your good.

Ask him for whatever you want—he desires you to communicate your desires with him. Do so like a child pleading with his father.

Trust him whatever comes your way—whether in life or in death, in health or suffering, God desires us to have faith in him.

When talking with others about their illness:

Never place blame upon them for their sickness—even if they are sick because of their poor decision making, they don’t need more guilt.

Always speak the truth—make sure your understanding of healing and sickness align with the Bible and are not just something you have heard.

Be compassionate—truth should always be spoken in love.

Listen more than you speak.