God is Healing in Unexpected Ways

Driving to school drop-off with my kids this morning, I turned on the radio to the local Christian station. The song I heard was a familiar but troubling one. The beat and melody made me want to sway and sing, but the lyrics forced me to hold back my enthusiasm.

A slightly twisted truth is the most dangerous of lies.

As I listened, I tried to pin-point the cause of my concern. Which words confirmed what I already knew in my gut—that the truth is misrepresented in this song?

And then I heard the line, “He heals because he loves.”

The lyric sounds good, doesn’t it? And there are certainly truths in that statement. God heals. We see evidence of his physical and mental healing in the Bible and in our modern-day lives. And God loves. The cross is his ultimate proclamation of love for us.

The songwriter claims to know God’s motivations when it comes to healing—love. What does that mean for those who don’t receive healing on this side of eternity?

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Who is God healing?

Yesterday I learned the awesome news that after months of treatment, a baby in my local church community was declared cancer-free. Our church is thanking and praising God for this healing.

I also know people who haven’t found healing on this side of eternity. Some are still struggling mightily with afflictions, and some didn’t find complete restoration until they met Jesus face-to-face.

When it comes to healing, there is no formula and no guarantee for healing in this broken world. We want perfect restoration now, and we wrestle with pain and discouragement when we don’t receive it. God does love the ones he heals, but just as much, he loves the ones he doesn’t.

What is God healing?

A few months ago, my Bible study group was reading through the miracles of Jesus. We observed that when Jesus interacted with people who were sick and suffering, he responded with compassion and love. 

Mark 1 tells us how Jesus cast out unclean spirits and “healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons” (v. 34). The next morning people were searching for him but instead of returning to the crowds to do more healing work, Jesus said, “‘Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out’” (Mark 1:38).

We noticed that his love compelled him to something more than acts of physical healing. By preaching and teaching the good news of the gospel, he was proclaiming an eternal, spiritual healing—a means to heal our union with God. In his mission to reconcile sinful man to God, miracles of physical healing communicated his identity as the Messiah and revealed his authority to forgive sin.

Scriptures reveal God’s heart for healing

Many in the Christian community are currently observing lent. This is a time to reflect on our sin, our limited abilities, and our frailty. As we recognize our need, we simultaneously find great joy in the hope that Jesus gives us.

Douglas McKelvey, the author of Every Moment Holy, created a guide for lent that includes liturgies, suggested Scripture readings, and questions for reflection.

This week’s reading centered on healing. As I read each of the Scripture sections, I was struck by the consistency of this truth: God cares for us in our sickness and frailty and desires that we would draw near to him, the healer of our hearts.

2 Kings 5:1-16

God heals Naaman in an unexpected way so that Naaman would come to see and believe that “there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.”

Psalm 102

The psalmist is “groaning.” He withers “away like grass” and declares that God “has shortened my days.” Knowing his “days are like an evening shadow,” he can more clearly see the contrast of God who is “enthroned forever.” In the midst of his complaint and prayer for restoration, the psalmist remembers God’s nature and can therefore finish the poem with confidence and hope: “The children of your servants shall dwell secure.”

Luke 5:17-26

Jesus was teaching one day when people brought a paralyzed man to him. The first words Jesus spoke to him were “‘Man, your sins are forgiven you.’” Jesus granted physical healing afterward so “‘that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.’” 

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

This passage encourages us to endure in hope when we are “pressed on every side,” “perplexed,” “persecuted,” and “struck down.” The troubles we endure in the flesh “are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

Read more about Momentary Afflictions vs. Eternal Weight of Glory.

God is healing and loving

Almost every evening as I put my children to bed, I sing “Jesus Loves Me.” Many parents sing this song because we want our children to know and trust in Christ’s love for them. 

I recently learned that the song’s lyrics were originally written for a novel. In the novel, the words of Christ’s love are sung to comfort a dying child.^[1]

Now when I sing the song, I’m reminded that God’s love for us is true and constant in life and in death, in comfort and in suffering.

We desire healing just as we desire the restoration of everything that is tarnished and broken by sin. Healing in all its fullness will come one day.

While we wait, we wait in hope, knowing that the God of the universe loves us beyond measure and has healed us of our sin so we can bear witness to the day when he will make everything new.

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If you’re looking for more on God’s love and his trustworthiness, check out these posts:

1. The Personal Love of Jesus
2. 5 True Things About Our Heavenly Father
3. Why Letting Go and Letting God Take Control is Difficult (and How to Start Today)

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[1] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/articles/history-of-hymns-jesus-loves-me