A believer should first go before the Lord to discover the cause of his illness. He should not hastily seek healing as soon as he becomes ill. Consider the process a person goes through in an illness. Whenever a person has an illness, the first thing he should do is to discover the cause of the illness. Paul was clear about his own illness. This sets a good pattern for us. God wants us to be clear about the cause of our illnesses. We have to ask whether or not we have disobeyed the Lord. Have we sinned? Have we come short of others? Have we acted against some natural laws? Have we been negligent in certain matters? Often our offense against natural laws is an offense against God, because these laws were created and ordained by God; God rules the universe through these natural laws. There is always a reason for our illnesses.
Many people are afraid that they will die as soon as they become sick. They immediately look for a doctor after they become ill and anxiously look forward to their healing. This should not be a believer’s attitude. A person first must find out the cause of his illness. Many brothers and sisters have no patience at all. The first thing they do when they are ill is to look for healing. They hastily find a doctor. They are afraid that they will lose their precious lives. On the one hand, they pray as if they trust in God for their healing. On the other hand, they rush to the doctor for medicine and injections. They are afraid, and they treasure their own lives very much. This shows us clearly that they are fully obsessed with themselves. They are too self-centered during ordinary times. When they become sick, they become even more self-centered. It is impossible for a man to be full of the self at ordinary times yet be free from the self when he is sick. Those who are full of self at ordinary times will surely anxiously seek healing when they are sick.
I can assure you of the futility of such anxiety about your sickness. Being healed is not that simple in the case of a person who belongs to God. Even if you are healed, your sickness may come back. In addition, other kinds of illnesses may come. You must first take care of your problem with God before you can settle the problem of your body. A problem of the body cannot be resolved if a problem before God is not resolved. You must first discover the cause of your sickness before God and then seek healing afterward. You must learn the lesson that comes along with your illness. Even in the case of a sudden severe illness, you must not ignore this lesson. If you deal with God in this way, He will intervene for you and will deliver you out of your woe in a short time.
Very often we find that we are sick because we have sinned or have committed some mistakes. We must confess to the Lord and ask for forgiveness. Only then can we expect any healing. As we advance a little further in God, we may realize that there is not only sin but also Satan’s attack. At times sickness may be a matter of God’s discipline. He disciplines us in order that we would become more sanctified, tender, and obedient before Him. There can be many reasons for our sicknesses, and we have to deal with them one by one before the Lord. As we deal with them one by one, we will discover the actual cause of our illness. Sometimes God allows help to come from natural means or from medicine, but at other times, God may not want us to receive help from medicine. He can heal us in an instant.
We need to realize that healing is always in God’s hands. We need to learn to look to the God who heals! In the Old Testament God has a name: “For I am Jehovah who healeth thee” (Exo. 15:26, New Translation). This name of God is a verb; it is a very special name. We need to learn to look to Jehovah, the One who heals. He will always deal graciously with His children.