Why would God allow you or your loved one to get sick?

By: Shaila Touchton | April 12, 2017 Here are some of the major reasons given in the Scripture. 1. Sickness and death naturally come to all because we are fallen people living in a fallen world. We get sick and die because we are imperfect human beings living in a world filled with bacteria and viruses that attack our bodies. Paul declared that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). This death refers to spiritual death but also to the eventual physical death that comes to all mankind. To stop all sickness and death would require God to stop the world as we know it today. One day Jesus said that He would come again and set up His kingdom here upon the earth and remove all things that offend out of this world (Matt. 13:41). 2. God sometimes allows sickness so that His purposes might be fulfilled. Jesus said that one man was born blind so that, “the works of God should be revealed in him” (John 9:3). Other times Jesus said that it was to bring glory to God when He healed the person (John 11:4). Therefore, you can be assured of one thing, that God is working out His purpose in your life through this sickness. 3. God has also used sickness as a judgment against people who were in rebellion against Him. King Jehoram was an example of this cause of sickness (2 Chron. 21:1-19). His illness was allowed so that he would hopefully humble himself and turn to God for help. Scripture teaches that God never afflicts someone willingly, but allows it, hoping that they will turn from their sin. Jeremiah declared concerning God: “The Lord will not cast off forever. Though He causes grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies. For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men” (Lam. 3:31-33). King Hezekiah is an excellent example of a man who turned to God, was healed, and recovered from his illness (2 Kings 20:1-5). If you are a Christian in right standing with God this potential cause of your sickness is not one that God would use, simply because you already have a right relationship with the Father. Many sicknesses have nothing to do with a person’s sin or turning them from rebellion. Jesus made this clear when the disciples questioned Him concerning a man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Him, “ ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him’ ” (John 9:2-3). Notice that Jesus was emphatic that neither this man nor his parents had anything to do with this birth defect. God had a single purpose of revealing His own glory in the man’s healing. However, if you don’t have a personal relationship with Christ, God may have allowed this sickness to get your attention. To resolve this potential cause of your sickness you should consider surrendering your life to God. Invite Jesus into your heart and ask Him to forgive you of your sin. God’s Word promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). God has great delight in showing mercy (Micah 7:18-19). Once you have surrendered your life to Christ you can take this issue off the table as a potential cause of your sickness. 4. Sometimes God doesn’t provide a clear reason for illness. God has allowed some individuals who have had great faith and whom He has used greatly to get sick. In some cases, they didn’t recover and God gave no explanation for His reasons. Elisha the prophet is a good example. He got sick and died after he had healed many others in his own ministry (2 Kings 13:14). God didn’t explain why He allowed this man to be taken from his service in this manner. Whenever God does anything without explaining it you must trust in His sovereign wisdom and love. There are purposes beyond your understanding that He is working out for all concerned. Unless God specifically reveals His plan Paul said, “His ways are past finding out” (Rom. 11:33). God didn’t tell Paul the apostle why he received his “thorn in the flesh” but only encouraged him to trust His sovereign and sufficient grace. Paul said concerning this thorn, “I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:8-10). Therefore, ask God to reveal His grace and strength to you in this time of weakness. 5. Sometimes God allows sickness for a testimony of His power and glory. One of the best examples of this truth is when a deadly snake bit Paul after He had been shipwrecked on an island. While Paul was gathering wood for the fire a viper fastened itself on his hand. He shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. The natives of the island saw this and thought that He must have been a murderer because he escaped death in the sea and now justice has not allowed him to live. But, when Paul did not die the people changed their minds thinking him to be a god. Therefore, God used this situation to have the people ask Paul to pray for a magistrate of the island who was sick. God healed this man and then many who where sick on the island came and were also healed. What a testimony this was all because Paul was bitten by a viper (Acts 28:1-10). 6. One of the most comforting principles that God declares is that when a person gets sick He promises to sustain this person on their sickbed. David taught, “The LORD will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed” (Ps. 41:3). Therefore, allow the Lord to strengthen you spiritually by drawing close to Him during this time of sickness. If you seek Him you will find Him and His grace for whatever is ahead (Matt. 7:7-8). Strengthening yourself spiritually is essential because Solomon also said, “The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, but who can bear a broken spirit” (Prov. 18:14)? Therefore, whether you are healed or end up receiving the ultimate healing (death and your new body), the Lord will be with you and sustain you by His grace. David declared concerning the Lord that: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps. 46:1). The Lord also promises: “He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him” (Ps. 91:15). I encourage you at this time of sickness in your life that you seek the Lord to be your strength and refuge. He wants to be with you and help you if you will only call upon Him. God has clearly stated that He has an eternal purpose, which He is accomplishing in every believer’s life. Paul declared that in Christ “we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph. 1:11). Therefore, be assured that God is working out His eternal purposes in and through your life during this time of suffering. He is working through all the things that are occurring in your life to fulfill the counsel of His will. It is important to remember that even Jesus was allowed to suffer, “to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known … according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3:10-11). God had an eternal purpose in allowing His own Son to suffer. Paul taught that this purpose was that we might understand and know God’s wisdom and love through His plan to redeem us through the death of His Son. Therefore, if God has allowed even His own Son to suffer to fulfill His eternal purpose, then you must also trust that He is working out His eternal purpose in you in the midst of your suffering. God may use your suffering to redeem someone else’s life by your testimony and example. But, how can you be sure that something good will come of your suffering? Paul taught, “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Note that Paul does not say that all things that happen to us are good, but that God takes all things and works them together for good in order to fulfill His eternal purpose. Category: Healing and Deliverance Tags: Why would God allow you or your loved one to get sick