Therefore, the logical response is to rebuke the one who is ill.
Can I just say, that kind of thinking isn’t going to go well?
My wife has been a model of suffering well (despite her protests to the contrary). When she nearly died during a miscarriage, her response was not to doubt God, but to cry out to Him. When she developed epilepsy recently, her response (although she’s admitted she has a long way to go) has not been to sit in sackcloth and ashes, but to look to see God’s purposes in it.
A friend and mentor, Chris, is another example of one who has suffered unbelievably, yet his lack of healing has nothing to do with a lack of faith. In fact, he’s among the godliest men I know. Nevertheless, he’s been dealing with a Crohn’s-like illness for the last seven years and been hospitalized multiple times because of it.
An important thing to remember about theology is that, as much as possible, it actually has to make sense in practice.
Would the right response be for me to rebuke my wife because she’s got epilepsy? Would Chris’ wife be in the right to rebuke him for having a disease?
Of course not! Responses like that only serve to pour condemnation upon those who are suffering — but there is “no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). We must offer, not condemnation, but compassion. If our theology of healing and suffering causes people more pain, it might be missing the mark.
3. God’s glory is His overriding concern — and it should be ours too.
Finally, it’s important to remember that God does all things, ultimately, for His own name’s sake — His glory is His utmost concern (cf. Isa. 48:9; 66:5; Ezek. 20:9, 14, 22, 44; 36:22). That has to be our primary concern, just as it is God’s.
God does whatever brings Him the most glory in all matters — including if, how and when He chooses to heal someone. Any conclusions we make, any positions we hold, must be filtered through this lens.
So if you pray for healing and it comes (whether through ordinary or extraordinary means), rejoice and give glory to God! But if healing doesn’t come, understand it’s not because you’ve done something wrong — it’s that by suffering well, you have the opportunity to give God the most glory.
