It is interesting to note that unbelievers often are easily healed, while Christians are not healed so easily. The New Testament shows that when unbelievers went to the Lord, they were healed immediately. The Bible also speaks of the gift of healing. Both believers and unbelievers can be healed through the gift of healing. However, the Bible also shows that some Christians were never healed. Trophimus was one, Timothy was another, and Paul was a third. These three were the best brothers in the New Testament. Paul kept Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick and nothing could be done (2 Tim. 4:20). Paul advised the sick Timothy to take some wine because his stomach was not clean; Timothy was not healed. Even Paul himself suffered and was weak because of an eye disease or some other malady. This is why he said that there was a thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). A thorn always irritates people. Even though a thorn is very small, it is very uncomfortable when lodged in the flesh. Even when it is lodged in the little finger, it can be very painful. Paul’s thorn was not a small one but a big one. This thorn caused discomfort to his whole body. In verse 9 he used the term weakness, which tells us how much he suffered! These three persons were the best brothers, yet they were never healed. Instead, they bore their illnesses.
Illnesses are different from sins. Sins cannot yield the fruit of sanctification, whereas illnesses can yield the fruit of sanctification. It is wrong to lump illnesses together with sins. There are some similarities between the two, but there are also many dissimilarities. The more a man sins, the filthier he becomes. But a man does not become filthier by becoming sick. In fact, he can become holy through his sickness, because God’s disciplining hand is with his sickness. Sickness can result in discipline. When God’s children are sick, they have to learn to submit to God’s mighty hand (1 Pet. 5:6).
If you have an illness, you should learn to deal with your problems one by one before the Lord. After you have dealt with them, you may conclude that God’s hand is upon you and that He is doing this to stop you from becoming proud and wild like other sinners. You should remember that you must accept not only the illness but also the lesson that comes with this illness. Having an illness alone is useless; you must learn the lesson that comes with the illness. Illness alone cannot sanctify a person; it is the acceptance of the lesson that comes with the illness that sanctifies a person. You must reap the benefit and result that come with the illness. Perhaps God put His hand on you in order to humble you as He did Paul. He prevented Paul from becoming proud through the revelations that he had received. God may allow a sickness in our flesh to soften us because we are too strong in our disposition. These things can explain why He does not heal us immediately. Sickness alone does not profit anyone; only the softening brings the profit. There is no point in being ill all our lives unless the illness will soften us. Many people have been sick all their life, yet they have never been dealt with by the Lord. Such sickness is in vain. Sometimes a person recovers from an illness after a period of time. But even though the sickness is over, the Lord may not let the person go. Other things will come along the way. As soon as one becomes sick, he has to go to the Lord and seek His speaking.
Often we can identify the Lord’s discipline in our sickness. God disciplines many people through their illness and touches them in certain areas.