Why Does God Heal Some People But Not Others? Do Tragedies Happen Because God Is Punishing People? Update.

For “Scripture Sunday”: but it is now Monday, as I had company.

Why Does God Heal Some People But Not Others?     

“Why would God ever choose not to heal a person? Isn’t health and wholeness in this life what He wants for us?  

Joshua Rawson Harris/Unsplash

Our present lives with all their trials and suffering should be viewed as a training ground. Preparing us for a future that is bigger and brighter than anything we might enjoy in our present physical lives.

Our Creator can and does heal people. But not always. Many times God deliberately chooses not to heal.

Why would God ever choose not to heal a person?

Isn’t health and wholeness in this life what He wants for us?

Does He withhold healing because we have sin we haven’t repented of yet?

Or is it because we lack faith?

Or is it because we have simply not asked?

Any of these factors can, and often do, lead to a situation where healing is withheld. But what about situations where none of these is a factor? Consider Paul’s prayers for his own healing 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. God’s reasons for answering “no” were not because of sin in Paul’s life or some lack of faith. God said “no” because He had something much bigger and much better in mind for Paul that could only be achieved through perseverance in suffering.

For believers, that bigger and better goal God has in mind is to be transformed into a new type of person who thinks and acts like Jesus himself (Romans 12:2, Ephesians 4:12-15). That transformation is what makes us fit to receive God’s gift of eternal life. If we were to receive that gift of eternal life without having first undergone this transformation in the way we think and act, eternity could end up being a very unhappy place.

God’s purpose was that Paul be moved towards this goal through physical suffering. Even in this physical suffering, Paul was following the example set down before by Jesus Himself (Hebrews 2:10).

As with Paul’s life, our present lives with all their trials and suffering should be viewed as a training ground. Preparing us for a future that is bigger and brighter than anything we might enjoy in our present physical lives.

Why then does God choose to heal some people?

We cannot possibly know all the reasons why God chooses to heal or not to heal. However, two broad categories shine forth in the Scriptures:

1. God heals because He is compassionate. He desires to act with kindness and gentleness towards human beings. In the greater world around us human disobedience, indifference and disbelief often disrupt the flow of His compassion.

2. God heals to demonstrate His power to perform works in this world (John 9:2-3). He often heals for the purpose of building and strengthening newly forming belief in Himself, either in the person being healed or ones looking on.

By contrast, Paul’s strong faith was tested and strengthened when he was required to persevere through the trial of not being healed.

Only God, who knows the heart, can properly assess a person’s life. Only God can know whether to heal or not heal will best move the person forward toward His goal of building the mind of Christ in them. His deep desire is that we learn to trust Him in all things including matters of healing.

To more fully explore what God’s Word has to say about the larger questions related to human suffering in this world, our free Bible study guide Why Does God Allow Suffering? is a good place to continue learning.”        From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/why-does-god-heal-some-people-but-not-others

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Do Tragedies Happen Because God Is Punishing People?

“There are select examples in the Bible of God enacting divine punishment on individuals, cities or nations as a whole; however, Jesus Christ clearly taught that everyday tragedies are not the result of people being particularly sinful or evil (Luke 13:1-5).    

   Niels Smeets/Unsplash

Following God is a matter of our eternal salvation that does not free us from all physical dangers, trials or harmful accidents.

God’s direct intervention and punishment, as described throughout the Bible, is the exception rather than the rule. This is due to His supreme patience (Psalms 103:8) motivated by His love for us and desire to reconcile us to Himself for salvation. The Bible teaches that God’s wrath is preceded by a warning so that people have the opportunity to repent (Amos 3:7), as opposed to the many tragic occurrences that strike daily and without warning throughout the world.

Jesus Christ spoke directly on the topic of accidents, natural disasters and even persecution as it relates to a person’s sin. In Luke 13:1-5, He gave two examples of people who suffered—some who had been slaughtered by Roman officials, and others who died when a large tower suddenly fell and landed on them. He pointed out that these people who died were not “worse sinners” than those in the same town who were unharmed, but instead He taught that “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” This speaks to the reality that all people are under the same penalty of sin, which is death, unless we repent and follow God.

Conversely, even those who follow God and keep His commandments will sometimes suffer or die in tragedies. Of these, the scriptures teach that this is not divine judgment, but that “time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). Following God is a matter of our eternal salvation that does not free us from all physical dangers, trials or harmful accidents.

Sin is the root cause of all death, disease, suffering and corruption in the world today. The cumulative destructive effect of sin that is in the world leads to death by illnesses, accidents, natural disasters and other tragic events that are completely unconnected to our own actions. While “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23), often those who experience a tragedy are not receiving the direct punishment of their own sin. There are many cases when people do suffer as a direct result of their sin, but this does not require divine intervention. For example, adulterers will suffer emotional damage in their marriages with the additional possibilities of sexually transmitted diseases or retribution from the other person’s partner, but this type of “punishment” is simply cause-and-effect.

In the particular cases of God’s wrath found in the Bible, God acted in response to extreme conditions of depravity, and the result was complete and utter devastation on a scale that is far beyond the natural disasters or local tragedies that we experience today. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah illustrates this point, where only Lot and his two daughters survived. Again in the flood of Noah’s day, only eight people out of the entire world were spared. The Bible does teach God’s future judgment and wrath on the earth, but this is not merely to punish sin—it serves the dual purpose of breaking down the corrupt institutions of the world and raising up His righteous Kingdom under the rule of Jesus Christ and the saints (Romans 8:22-23; Revelation 11:15).

For more information on the cause of death, pain and suffering in the world—and God’s solution to sin for all mankind—please see our free study aid, Why Does God Allow Suffering?  From: https://www.ucg.org/bible-study-tools/bible-questions-and-answers/do-tragedies-happen-because-god-is-punishing-people

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Update:

It’s been two weeks since I picked the van up from the repair shop and it has started each time, so the new ignition switch is working.

Zack and I have made some progress in the mini-house.  All the door jambs are stained to match the trim, but one door jamb was painted an ivory color, so the best way to take the eye off it was to paint it the same color as the stain.  He sanded the painted door jam, so that the paint would adhere better.  The 15-light-door that is between the rooms was taken down, filled and sanded, as it will be painted too.  Home Depot mixed up some paint the same color as the stained trim from a sample of the trim.  We did get the door jam painted, but then we ran out of time.

We also had to do the first mowing of the new year, and that old mower started up at second pull, can’t beat that.

On Sunday, my SPCA friend Chris took me with her to pick up my little foster cat, Puddin’,  from the Cat Habitat at Petco, I just couldn’t wait to see her again.  She is so happy to be home that she has hardly left my side, except when someone comes to the door, then she makes a beeline for under my bed.  She was just too timid to ‘sell’ herself to the potential adopters at Petco.

My youngest son, Kevin, 48, arrived Sunday so I spent as much time as I could with him, as he lives in Florida now.  I guess it is a “son thing”, he ate quite a bit and did two loads of laundry while he was here. 

For the church potluck I made some Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix that I had been given into a veggie-based stuffing with sautéed onions, celery, grated carrots and spices.  I had a roll of ground turkey, but I didn’t want to make the usual turkey meat loaf with it, so I added spices to make it taste like turkey sausage and made it into an Impossibly Easy Pie.  https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/product-recipes/bisquick-recipes/bisquick-impossibly-easy-pie-recipes.  It was deemed ‘delish’!   We also had a meat/bean casserole with a cornbread topping, beef and noodles dish, lasagne, home-made mac and cheese, potato salad, coleslaw, green salad, etc, and lots of veggies including my favorite, Brussel Sprouts.

The Bible readings wereExo. 27:20-30:10, Eze. 43:10-27, Heb. 13:10-17, and the Teaching was about the Foundations of Doctrine.

After church I went to the nursing home nearby, and visited Claudia, Jay’s Mom.  She is just wasting away lying there.  I tried to see if there is anyone who can help her get her strength back by helping her exercise each day.