“...a thorn in the flesh…” (II Corinthians 12:7)
In 2018 I experienced the sudden onset of a neurological condition. Known as transverse myelitis, it has left me unsteady when I walk and feeling a pins-and-needles sensation from my feet to the middle of my chest. God has mercifully restored much of the mobility I had temporarily lost. Throughout, I have seen God’s faithfulness and been surrounded by those who have supported me in countless ways. From this experience, I offer these observations. I am mindful that my condition is mild compared to many, and there are fuller discussions from real experts. Mine are little thoughts on a big God. May He use them to help those who wrestle with disease and its discouragement.
● Who receives healing? The Lord Jesus healed everyone he intended to heal as he “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). He didn’t seek out all who were sick, but he never turned any away. Our Lord owes healing to no one but graciously heals according to his good pleasure. The choice to heal or not is his; the timing is his also.
● Why disease and illness? Since Adam and Eve chose to sin, the world has been plunged into a culture of death. “...and he died” is the repeated hideous phrase in the first genealogy (Genesis 5). Disease is a signpost that death is coming. The chief issue becomes whether or not you have placed your trust in the One “who died for us” (I Thess. 5:10). Disease is a reflection of the spiritual sickness that can only be cured by Christ’s sacrifice for us.
● Who suffers from disease? Though some believe that ill health comes only to the faithless, God’s Word catalogs faithful (Paul the Apostle, for example, in II Cor. 12) and faithless (the Ashdodites, for example, in I Sam. 5) experiencing disease.
● What is the purpose of disease? The words of the Lord Jesus in John 11:4 both explain much and also leave some questions unanswered: The sickness Lazarus faced was “not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby”. Christ knew that Lazarus would die from the illness. His statement may suggest something like this: Death is not the final word with Lazarus. He will be raised back to life, and the whole experience will glorify God. See Deut. 29:29 concerning the secret things.
We simply don’t understand it all, do we? God allows health and disease for His glory. Glorify Him, then, in sickness and in health.
