When faith doesn't remove sickness and pain – but carries it

There are pains that pass.

And then there are pains that move in.

I have lived with chronic pain for more than two decades.

Not as a parenthesis in my life, but as a part of my everyday.

As something I live, lead, pray, preach and serve in the middle of.

What you're reading here is therefore not written from a distant tower.

It's written from reality.

And let me say it plainly from the start:

I have no doubt about my healing.

Whether it happens here – or on the other side of eternity – God knows.

My job is not to set the timing.

My job is to hold on to the fact that he is good.

I have decided to serve him for the rest of my life.

Not because of the outcome.

But because of who he is.

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When explanations become heavier than the pain

When sickness becomes long-lasting, the questions start to surface.

Not theoretical questions.

But questions born of exhaustion:

Why?

What does God want with this?

Have I done something wrong?

Sadly, the church has often answered too quickly.

Throughout history, sickness has been given many explanations:

• "God wants to teach you something"

• "God disciplines those he loves"

• "There must be a hidden cause"

• "You lack faith"

With explanations that may have been well-meant –

but that made the pain heavier to carry.

Some of these statements sound pious.

But many of them don't survive the encounter with Jesus.

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Jesus never explained sickness – he healed it

When we look at Jesus, we discover something decisive.

He didn't use sickness as teaching.

He didn't use it to teach people something.

He confronted it.

Jesus treated sickness as:

• something that binds

• something that steals

• something God's kingdom contradicts

That's not a small theological point.

It's a revealing glimpse into God's heart.

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John 9 – when Jesus rejects blame

When the disciples meet the man born blind, they ask:

Who sinned – this man or his parents?

The question is logical.

It's also wrong.

Jesus' answer is crystal clear:

Neither this man nor his parents sinned.

Jesus rejects the whole premise.

He refuses to connect sickness with blame.

And he moves the focus from explanation to restoration.

That matters – especially for those of us who live for a long time with pain.

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Sickness belongs in the fallen world – not in God's nature

The Bible teaches us that we live in a broken world.

Sickness is a part of this reality.

But it doesn't reflect God's being.

When God's kingdom breaks through, the same thing always happens:

• the sick are made well

• the bound are set free

• life is restored

Healing doesn't depend on God's mood.

It's God's will made manifest.

That God is sovereign doesn't mean everything that happens is his will.

It means that:

• he doesn't lose control

• he can bring hope in the middle of pain

• and that sickness never gets the last word

Jesus teaches us to pray:

Your will be done – on earth as it is in heaven.

There is no sickness in heaven.

That says something about God's will.

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When healing doesn't come – and God is still good

I live in the tension.

I pray.

I expect.

I serve.

Not because the pain is gone –

but because God's goodness is not up for negotiation.

My healing is on the way.

Now – or in eternity.

That doesn't change my course.

A healthy theology of sickness does three things:

1. It removes blame from the one who suffers

2. It protects God's character

3. It keeps hope alive without pressure

Sickness is not a lesson.

Sickness is not a calling.

Sickness is something Jesus came to overcome.

Following Jesus – even when the road hurts

I have decided.

To follow him.

To serve him.

To hold on to the fact that he is good.

Not because I have all the answers.

But because I know his heart.

And that heart we see most clearly in Jesus.

A Jesus who:

• is moved by compassion

• fights sickness

• and carries pain – without making it holy

That's where I stand.

And that's where I invite others to stand together with me!