We Do Not Need To Suffer
As a parent, it is difficult to watch children suffer. It tears my heart and stirs up many emotions when the news shows tragedies against children.
When our precious ones are running a temperature or are hurting in any way, we wish we could take the pain away or suffer in their stead. As our offspring mature and have children of their own, we then have grandbabies to care about and love.
We strive to keep our children safe and happy. We rejoice when they are healthy, content, and whole.
Whatever the situation, we want to remedy it – to bear the pain, to ease the wounds, but often we can only watch and wait. We trust God to heal and restore them to wholeness.
No earthly parent who loves their children wants to inflict pain and suffering on them. God is our Heavenly Father; and He does not want to put pain or suffering on us.
Often, we sacrifice our desires to give our children gifts we cannot afford. We delight in their joy when they receive them. And when our children fail or fall, we help them up to make sure they have everything they need and to protect them.
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him” Matthew 7:11.
No Need To Suffer
When Jesus died on the cross, He took our sicknesses. God put them on Jesus, so we do not need to suffer. When Jesus said “It is finished” as He hung on the cross, He had completed the mission that God sent Him to do.
“He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” Matthew 8:17. Why did God do that? He did it out of His love for His children; for us.
The original text for the word salvation encompasses the words health and deliverance. It is the full package. He only asks that we believe His Word and His promise to each of us.
Have you ever heard someone say that they are willing to suffer if it is God’s will? You will never find that in the Word. It is traditional thinking that is a lie and has no root in truth.
God secured our salvation, our health, and our wholeness when His Son bore every sin, every disease, and every infirmity upon His body. He did it out of His love for us. To believe that He wants us to suffer is beyond ludicrous.
God hates sickness and disease. He sent His Son to die for our sins and to give us life. God sent Him to give us abundant life – not to suffer. We are not only righteous in His sight, but He also wants us to live in freedom from guilt, sickness, suffering, and anything that would try to destroy us.
God Responds To Two Things
When we grasp that truth from God’s Word, we receive the blessings of Abraham that He gave us through His Son.
Another misconception that is taught and believed by well-meaning Christians is that we need to ‘pray hard’ to receive our healing. When I ask people what they mean when they say that, they answer that it is up to them to persuade God to heal them. The constant repetitive prayer of begging God to heal shows a lack of faith.
God responds to two things when we are praying: His Word and our faith. Our begging shows our lack of faith. Our doubt shows our lack of faith.
When we hear of earthly parents who inflict pain on their children, we get angry. We grieve for the children. We certainly do not believe that somehow the children deserved it. It is through God’s grace that we learn discipline – not through suffering.
Some people may suggest that our suffering is God’s will. If you choose to believe that there would be no reason to seek recovery. Read that again! And this is often why people do not receive healing. It is distorted, anti-scriptural teaching that is a lie.
It Is Finished - No Need To Suffer
If you are confronted with anyone who claims that this could be God’s will, or that God wants to teach you something by making you sick, reject it immediately and seek the Word of what God promises.
Our Father is full of grace and mercy and wants us to be healthy, provided for, and protected from every evil occurrence, sickness, and disease.
Paul and the apostles suffered great persecution for His name’s sake as he stated in 2 Timothy 3:12 and Jesus also said that those who follow him will be persecuted for His name’s sake in Matthew 10:22.
This has NOTHING to do with sickness or disease. Many Christians have suffered severe pain and even death for the sake of the gospel. Yet, somehow, that has been twisted to make it about sickness. If that were true, then we would have to throw out all scripture that claims the opposite. Persecution for spreading the gospel does not involve illness.
To support their argument, they may bring up Job. What happened to Job will never happen to you who are in Christ today. One of Job’s complaints was that there was not a mediator as Elihu described in Job 33. In 1 Timothy 2: 5-6 this is clarified, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
Today, you and I have a mediator in the person of our Lord Jesus who died on the cross to atone for our sins and make us righteous before God.
The atoning blood of Christ has canceled all the legal rights that the enemy had against you and your family. When you freely receive that perfect sacrifice that was accomplished for you, you do not have to live afraid that you may have to suffer like Job. Rather, you can anticipate a future full of God’s promises, blessings, and protection.