A God Who Is Willing - The Crosswalk Devotional - August 26

A God Who Is Willing
By Lynette Kittle

“Jesus reached out His hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,” He said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him’” - Luke 5:13

Like me, you’ve probably known or know someone praying for God to heal them who is still sick, or worse yet, someone who many prayed to be healed but instead passed away. Scripture is very clear God is willing to heal. So how do we explain when people continue to suffer or even die? We don’t. Instead, we keep our eyes on the truth that God’s will is to heal, and just because we sometimes don’t see it happen doesn’t mean it isn’t true.

Although a heartbreaking experience when someone isn’t healed or passes away, God reminds us, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than Your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). It becomes an opportunity where even though we don’t understand or can’t explain why, we choose to say, “But I trust in you, Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’”(Psalm 31:14).

How We Know God Is Willing
God tells us over and over in Scripture of His willingness and desire to heal us. 

• Psalm 147:3 affirms, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
• As well, Psalm 103:3 explains He is a God, “Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”
• Likewise, Psalm 107:20 describes how, “He sent out His word and healed them; He rescued them from the grave.”

The Willingness of Jesus
Not one time in the Bible do we read where Jesus was unwilling to heal those who came to Him, and we know God the Father is willing to heal, too, because Hebrews 1:3 explains, that Jesus is the exact representation of God. As well, Jesus often healed whole crowds of people. “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people” (Matthew 4:23).

Because He healed entire crowds of people, we can be pretty safe in believing He healed people who didn’t have great faith to be healed, and individuals who hadn’t confessed all their sin, even some who were probably living in sin, and even those who had brought on their own sickness through their actions or lifestyles. All the reasons Christians often offer people as reasons why some people aren’t healed or die. But healing isn’t dependent on our efforts or condition, “For God does not show favoritism” (Romans 2:11).

Rather, it is dependent on the One who freely heals and delivers. Again. Matthew 4:24 describes how “News about Him spread all over Syria, and people brought to Him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and He healed them.”

God Is Willing to Save and Heal
Still, often some of the same individuals who believe Jesus saves don’t believe He heals. Yet how many millions of people pass away without knowing God? Does that mean God doesn’t save? Of course not! Although many men and women are passing away not knowing God, it’s not God’s will. 

His will for a dying world is summed up in 1 Timothy 2:4; He is a God, “Who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

Like it is written in His word, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

So why do people doubt God’s desire to heal? Because they are focusing on not seeing it happen around them rather than on the truth that just like God saves, He also heals.

As Jeremiah 17:14 explains, “Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the One I praise.”

Intersecting Faith and Life:
If you’re having difficulty believing God is willing to heal, maybe because of personal experiences and losses, ask God to renew your faith in His heart to heal, even when you don’t see it happen.

Further Reading:
Powerful Prayers for Personal Healing
Healing Bible Verses

Photo credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/SvetaZi

Lynette Kittle is married with four daughters. She enjoys writing about faith, marriage, parenting, relationships, and life. Her writing has been published by Focus on the Family, Decision, Today’s Christian Woman, kirkcameron.com, Ungrind.org, StartMarriageRight.com, and more. She has a M.A. in Communication from Regent University and serves as associate producer for Soul Check TV.

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