Why Would a Good God NOT Heal?

Mike Leake 2 Comments

“If you will, you can make me clean”. –Mark 1:40

That statement in the gospel of Mark really tugs at my heart. I see my own heart in the statement of this desperate leper. He knows that God can do anything, but He isn’t sure that He wants to. He’s found in Jesus the man who can touch His greatest hurt and wash Him clean…but will He? Jesus’ ability isn’t up for debate, but apparently His heart is.

It’s likely years of shame which has this leper questioning whether Jesus would want to heal him. Ed Welch says it well:

“…shame can deliberately undermine any possible success. If you catch a whiff of something good, you treat it as a threat. You run from it, drink at it, drug at it, sabotage it…People who live with shame believe they don’t deserve anything good. Sure, others get hurt by shame’s self-destructive ways, but its not as if you wanted to hurt them. You are doing your loved ones a favor (you think) if you distance yourself from them. You will ruin lives eventually, so you might as well get it over with.” (Shame Interrupted, 32)

This leper knows that Jesus can heal him, but why would he want to? I love Mark 1:41. It’ll preach. Jesus is moved with compassion and then He does the unthinkable…He touches the leper. And rather than Jesus getting leprosy and becoming unclean He heals the leper. That’s good gospel stuff right there. Jesus touches the untouchable. It doesn’t matter how much shame or darkness or dirtiness or brokenness you have, when you call upon the name of the Lord you will be saved.

But then I think of Martha.

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

She, like the leper, isn’t questioning Jesus’ ability. She’s not even questioning His heart. If Jesus had been here then He would have made sure Lazarus didn’t die. What she is questioning is Jesus’ time management skills. Or rather, she is questioning the goodness of God’s planning.

And that leads to where I occasionally wrestle with the Lord. I know that He is able. I know (at least I’m growing in knowing) that He loves me. But what if His love means that Lazarus still dies? What if for the glory of God my Lazarus dies?

He is still good. He still loves me. He still is doing everything that is ultimately best for me. But it’s not what I would have chosen. Will I trust Him then?

This is where those who question God’s existence get really frustrated with us.  We say God miraculously heals someone. We see the hand of God in someone’s cancer going into remission. We attribute this to God instead of science. Point for team Jesus. Then when God doesn’t heal someone…we continue to believe that God is good and does us good. We say things like “He has a better plan, He decided to heal in another way”. It’s a no lose situation for God.

If God could heal someone, if God loves us, then why in the world would He not always heal? And if he doesn’t always heal doesn’t it mean that either He doesn’t exist or He isn’t good?

Not at all.

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

It just means the story isn’t over.

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Photo source: here

God Working All Things For Good Doesn’t Mean He Closes a Door to Open Another

Mike Leake

Life has just dealt you a heavy blow. Your heart is sick because something you’d dreamed about and prayed about has been dashed against the rocks. You confide in a friend and get this advice…

“It’s okay, I’m sure God has something even better planned for you. Remember that Scripture says He works all things together for our good. He doesn’t close a door without opening another.”

Bad things work out for our good. That’s a good Scriptural principle. But I don’t think that means what we think it means. I’m not confident that Scripture promises that if something really bad happens that God is going to turn it on it’s head and you’ll end up with an amazing material blessing in its place. Something’s aren’t replaced this side of glory.

I suppose trite speech like that can be forgiven when we are talking about not getting a loan for our new speed boat. But it’s deadly when we are talking about the loss of a child, the end of a relationship, or other truly significant things. That’s why I appreciate the Puritans on topics like this one. They aren’t as influenced by our consumerist reading of the text.

In his book, All Things For Good, Thomas Watson gives 10 ways in which affliction works for our good. I’ve summarized and modernized the language where necessary. Notice the focus.

  1. Afflictions serve as our preacher and tutor. “A sick-bed often teaches more than a sermon”.
  2. Afflictions are the means of making the heart more upright
  3. Afflictions conform us to Christ.
  4. Afflictions are destructive to sin.
  5. Afflictions loosen our hearts from the world.
  6. Afflictions make way for comfort. “God sweetens outward pain with inward peace”
  7. Afflictions magnify us by showing how God takes notice of us, by serving as a sign of sonship, and by causing us to be renowned in the world.
  8. Afflictions are the means of making us happy because they bring us nearer to God.
  9. Afflictions put to silence the wicked.
  10. Afflictions make way for glory.

I didn’t see a houseboat or a prettier girlfriend in that list. And that’s because God’s greatest concern isn’t for our temporal comforts but for our eternal joy. This is a good thing. Our affliction does end up for our good. But if we’re convinced that this means on this side of glory God is going to take bad stuff that happens to us and give us a bigger blessings, then we’re going to end up calling God a liar.

Some wounds likely won’t heal until you see Jesus face to face. But afflictions have a way of helping us see Jesus clearer even now. And this is why Watson can say that even now we experience the goodness of God in the midst of our afflictions.

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Photo source: here

Read This 02.01.18

Mike Leake

Three Marks of Bad Theological Writing

This inspires me to diligently study my craft.

Parents, Take Note of the Spiritual Practices Common to Kids Who Flourish As Adults

Nothing too surprising here.

Weariness is Part of the Job

There is a difference between weariness and burnout.

You Can’t Have Ethics Without Stories

Our ethics should be consistent with the Story that God is telling.

Why Don’t ‘Dreamers’ Just Get Legal?

My friend Alan know his stuff in this area. And he answers a very important question.

The Problem of Crippling Shyness and How the Church Can Help

It’s a real thing. The church should help instead of make it more difficult.

When Christians Began Speaking of ‘the’ Antichrist

Interesting.

William Carey’s Greatest Obstacle: The Local Church

This should not have been.

Well, that explains why I never got those missing McDonald’s Monopoly pieces:

Announcing FBC Marionville Pastoral Internship

Mike Leake

At FBC Marionville we are a church united to enjoy God’s grace and to extend His glory. Part of what it means to be “a church” is that we realize we are not the only church who is seeking to be faithful to Jesus. In order to be faithful to Jesus we cannot be self-focused, we must instead be focused on the growth of the kingdom. One thing this means is that we are passionate about training young men for the work of pastoral ministry.

Last summer we launched our pastoral internship. This year we are expanding to offering two 12 week internships for those pursuing pastoral ministry in any capacity. This means that if you are passionate about working with youth, we want to help train you fulfill that calling pastorally. The same goes with music, lead pastoring, mission work, etc. The purpose of our internship program is not to build and staff ministries within our own church—though we’ll certainly put you to work. Rather, we are seeking an opportunity to influence future pastors and church leaders.

Interns accepted into the program are expected to join the church, and are offered a stipend of $2500, plus mileage, for 12 weeks. Acceptance into and/or completion of the program in no way implies our affirmation of your sense of call, and interns should not expect future employment at FBC Marionville.

If an internship at FBC Marionville sounds of interest to you as a future pastor or church leader, please do not hesitate to contact us. You can email Pastor Mike: mleake792[at]students[dot]sbts[dot]edu or you can contact the church office.

Let us know what you are passionate about and perhaps we can partner together for the sake of the kingdom!