Today I would like to share a letter we received. It starts like this.

Dear Brother Larry, 

My husband is the pastor of a church of about one hundred people. He has always worked hard. He is a good man. He graduated from seminary with honors and is a good preacher. All the people of the church love him but we have a problem.

It seems as though my husband is always sick. We have insurance that pays all the doctor bills so there is not a financial burden because of his illness. But there is one question that bothers both of us. Why did God make my husband sick? He’s a good man. He is not a sinner. So, why would God hinder his ministry by causing him to be ill all the time?

Thank you in advance for your prayers.

Sincerely,

The Pastor’s Wife 

Through the last thirty-five years in the ministry, I have encountered countless Christians who believe God has made them sick for a purpose. They believe God has "put the sickness on them" in order to teach them a lesson. Nothing could be further from the truth. This one belief alone has caused numerous Christians to live in defeat and die before their time.

Jesus said in John 8:31-32, “If you abide in my word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And the truth about healing is this: God wants you well. Satan wants you sick and diseased.

Think about this. Satan wants to destroy God's plan for us.

What is God’s plan for us? Well, it’s certainly not for us to be sick and diseased. All through the Bible we find this pattern. Satan brings death and destruction and God provides healing and life.

God said in Deuteronomy 30:19, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.” 

So the choice is ours. Do we choose blessings or do we choose cursings? Do we choose life or do we choose death? We can have what we want. The choice is ours. I don’t know about you, but to me life and blessings sound much more appealing that death and cursings.

Now, back to the letter. It’s probably real hard for this pastor and his wife to believe God for his healing when they believe that God made him sick. If God makes people sick and also heals them, what’s left for the devil to do? When Jesus was here on earth, He healed the sick everywhere He went. Why would Jesus be healing the sick if God His Father was making them sick? The scripture says in 1 John 3:8 “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” Here the Bible clearly says that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil, not to destroy the works of His Father.

First Peter 2:24 says that Jesus died on the cross so we could live and He bore stripes on His body for our healing. Jesus accomplished His mission in victory. He conquered sickness and death for you and for me.

James 5:14-15 says, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick and the Lord will raise him up.”