1. If it is God's will that people be sick, then why didn't Jesus make people sick? (Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father, fully revealing the Father in His will, character and plan). This act of taking a piece of logic to its logical conclusion made me think. Jesus only healed people. Most of the quotations people excerpt from the bible defending their belief that God "allows" sickness are from the Old Testament. I do recall from my theology classes and Old Testament survey classes, that in the Old Testament, that everything that occurs originates with God. Therefore that makes God responsible for sickness, etc. By this stream of logic, God would be ultimately responsible for evil in the world, since He created Satan and "knew" that Satan would rebel and be cast down to the earth, tempt and cause the first couple to sin, and ultimately cost God's only Son to die upon the cross. In a strange sense, that may be true, but only from the position of causation.
Let's look at a few true statements: God is perfect love. He is perfect justice. He is full of Grace and He is full of Truth. There is no darkness or shadow of evil in Him at all. Evil exists because of free will, and free will that rejects the Goodness of God embraces that evil...evil is like darkness, it is the absence of goodness; the same that darkness is the absence of light. Evil is permitted for a time in our world because every human being is being given a choice, by the mercy of God to choose God's love over evil.
2. So is health God's will? If sickness is NOT from God, and God is not the author of sickness or evil, then it only goes to show that health and wholeness is God's will. Sin exists in our world and it corrupts not only our physical bodies, but influences our mind, will and emotions to such a degree that our thinking and our faith is contaminated by it. Jesus healed EVERYONE who came to Him. He rejected no one. Yet in a very strange way, sometimes Jesus only went to certain people to heal them. At the pool of Siloam He passed by dozens of other sick people to seek out a long-time paralytic. He complimented the faith of people who approached him, and some, like the woman with the flow of blood, tapped into His power to heal without even His expressed consent!
3. If healing is God's will, why isn't everyone healed that we pray for? Bill Johnson says that we must be careful not to form our theology from our experience but from the Word of God. I agree. We have to admit we don't have all the answers, that some answers will come in heaven.
4. I have to believe that there are conditions for healing (grace, unworthiness, faith, humility, brokenness, communion, compassion) that we can't put into an equation or formula. Jesus was in perfect harmony with the Father, all of the time. Yet, he willingly gave up, set aside His divine rights to divinity, and operated like a man, a fully righteous man, unmarred by sin, unlimited by sin or its effects, and operated in the full and unlimited power of the Holy Spirit. Unlike us. Yet, He bought for us the inheritance to operate in the same realms, the same righteousness, the same Holy Spirit.
5. So, God's will can be confidently prayed for, knowing it IS GOD'S will to heal. Jesus himself said, "these signs shall follow those who believe...in my name the sick will be healed..." He sent out disciples with instructions to "heal the sick, raise the dead..." He hasn't changed. "Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever." He operated by compassion on the sick, healing all who came with Him. He hasn't changed. He lives in us and His compassion still is exuding from His presence. His ministry remains our ministry. He hasn't changed.
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