When God says “No” to healing our pain and suffering

I was reading in the book of Mark and noting all of the physical healings that Jesus accomplished – He healed the blind, the mute, the deaf, the lame, the leper, and even brought the dead back to life!  It took a lot of faith for these people to present themselves to Jesus for healing.  But then, God spoke to my heart and said that it would have taken them more faith if He had chosen not to heal them.  Would they still have exclaimed Jesus as Lord and worshipped Him?

God has told me very clearly “no” about healing my back.  Instead He has chosen to make me grow in faith every minute of every day.  I would prefer a quick healing, but I can accept the pain as a blessing because it makes me rely upon God so much more.  It takes a lot of faith to keep walking with a God “that could” but chooses not to and says that it is for my good.  He is either good all the time and in all things or He is not.  I choose to believe that He is good to perfection and therefore, I trust that my painful back is for my good eternally.  I choose to believe God’s word when He tells me that He loves me.  My pain is not a punishment or disapproval.  His love allowed Jesus to suffer upon the cross.  I am not comparing myself to that sacrifice, but if I can share just a minute amount in Christ’s suffering, then I choose to claim it as a blessing, not a curse.

Do I grumble and gripe sometimes?  Yes.  Do I doubt sometimes?  Yes.  But God always returns me to praising Him for the time with Him, the comfort that He gives, for humbling me, for loving me, and for the hope and the promise I have for a new body in eternity. With every step I take, I choose to praise God.

What pain has God allowed to stay in your life?  Memories?  Doubts? Physical pain?  Emotional pain?  Embrace Jesus and let Him be Lord over that pain and choose to live a life of enduring faith.