God Always Heals… or Does He not?
“I was sick and you visited me.” (Matt. 25:36 ESV)
What a remarkable text that is. It stood out to me, especially now that the topic of healing is so incredibly prevalent and also causes so much discussion in different churches and congregations.
See, it doesn’t say: “…and you healed me…”
Healing, it’s currently a hot topic, certainly on social media. I notice that it often puts people squarely opposite each other. It doesn’t unite, but divides, with sometimes fanatical proponents and opponents who fight tooth and nail.
Well-intentioned advice
Last week I heard a well-known speaker talk about his own process of illness. He shared how, speaking about this subject, he constantly received different advice in the congregations he visited. One person said: “you must not accept that illness!”, another: “we are going to intercede for you, we will keep praying!”. And yet another, very emphatically: “you are already healed, you just have to take and receive it in faith.” All sorts of well-intentioned, but sometimes also confusing and contradictory advice.
Yes, there is a lot going on concerning healing, particularly in the more charismatic corner of our Christian landscape. I myself have been involved in Pentecostal and charismatic circles for about 55 years now, and to my sorrow, in all those years, despite the many prayers and expectations, I have also seen many people die. Some at a respectable age, but unfortunately also many who were still young. “Before their time,” we would say. And in a way, that is true, because the psalms speak of 70 or even 80 years as a good age (Ps. 90). A wonderful age to hope for, but the reality is that life sometimes turns out differently.
I myself have also been seriously ill. I have had multiple surgeries, but the last one was the most intense. In the operating room, I received the unexpected question: “Mr. van Putten, should you pass away during the operation, would you want to be resuscitated?” A question that, honestly, I hadn’t seen coming and hadn’t considered. But it is the reality. People die, sometimes unexpectedly. People get sick, sometimes completely unexpectedly. Fortunately, I was healed and I can only say: “By God’s grace and through the skill of the doctors, I am myself again.” The cancer did not have the last word in my life. But the question still lingers: why is there always so much friction, so much tension surrounding this topic?
Say goodbye to the loved ones
Why that pushing of people in a certain direction? That rigidity surrounding healing doesn’t do anyone any good, least of all the sick person. I have heard and read stories about situations where people in the very last stage of their lives still had to be “stirred up” or healed. While that man or woman perhaps only wanted to quietly say goodbye to their loved ones, to this earthly life. I don’t believe God intended it that way. That doesn’t feel like God’s peace.
When I myself was facing that major operation, I invited three good friends to our home. Three friends with whom I have a very personal relationship. Other good friends lived too far away or were abroad. These three came, we celebrated Communion together. They anointed me with oil, as described in James 5. We prayed together. It was a very relaxed gathering, in which God’s presence was tangible. How precious that is. And so, in that peace and rest, I went into the operation.
Whichever path you choose when you are ill, whether you hope for healing, seek medical help, or both, I believe it should always happen in an atmosphere of relaxation and deep dependence on God. A life that is surrendered, because deep down you know that your life, with all its uncertainties and twists and turns, rests completely in God’s hand.
There is a song that expresses this so beautifully, a song that many of us know:
I place my trust in the Lord my God, my destiny rests in His hand. I love Him, His peace dwells within me. Look up to Him and know: He is always near me.
Perhaps this attitude, this deep trust and surrender, is too “soft” in the eyes of some fanatical “healing proponents.” Too passive, too little “expectant.” I absolutely believe in miracles, in the possibility of divine healing. But the hard reality is that I have also, unfortunately, seen with many that the miracle did not happen and they have died. Therefore, please let us grant each other the freedom in the path we take when it comes to illness and healing. Do not judge each other, do not put pressure on each other. Let us give each other space to seek a path of recovery, without the other imposing their opinion on you. The “proponents and opponents” who fight each other on platforms like Facebook would do better to interact with more gentleness and understanding, instead of sharply criticizing each other.
That is the core
One piece of advice I do want to give, and that touches the core of what I believe: make sure your relationships are in order. That discontent has been resolved, conflicts have been settled. Live in peace with everyone as much as possible. So that, if the doctor unexpectedly asks in the operating room: “Should we resuscitate you… or…?”, you know with a calm heart that, should it come to that, you were able to say goodbye to this life in peace.
Of course, I know the many Bible verses about healing. I have attended countless healing meetings. But even well-known, anointed speakers and ministries acknowledge: one person is healed, another is not. I once heard a famous preacher, who had seen so many miracles, honestly say: “I really don’t understand it at all. Why is one person healed, and another is not? They both came with so much expectation!” And he added, with a smile: “When I get Up There, I’m going to ask the Lord about it.” Precisely because we don’t have a conclusive answer to this deep question, we must be so careful in this area. Especially when it comes to giving an opinion, let alone a judgment, about the path a sick person takes.
What we can learn very clearly from the words and example of the Lord Jesus is this: we should not overload a sick person with Bible verses or all sorts of well-intentioned, but often unsolicited, advice. No, we should simply be there for that sick person. Visit them. Be close to them in their illness, in their suffering, in their questions. That is the core of what Jesus meant in Matt. 25:36. Being present, without an agenda, in love. And the rest? That is in God’s hands.
@wimvanputten