I saw it in the news, Teenager from Faith-Healing Family Dies.
Cause of death for the young man, just 16, was a malady that could have been easily treated by medical professionals.

How is it that well-meaning people can get the word of God so twisted in their minds that they seem to lose their ability to reason? My experience has been that the better you understand His word, the better you are able to use the reasoning abilities He has given us.

Jesus, of course, came to us as the Great Physician. But He said (and had three of the gospel writers record it for all posterity), ‘It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick’, Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, & Luke 5:31.

Of course in this content He was teaching us the legitimacy of ministering to those who are typically rejected by society; but would He have used that analogy if He considered physicians to have no value or place in the affairs of life? I believe that there is an underlying message there that serves to legitimize the need for those who’ve been trained in the healing art of medicine as well.

Is it only by coincidence that Luke, one of the gospel writers, was a doctor, Colossians 4:14?

Was the apostle Paul failing in faith in that he evidently could not immediately heal Epaphroditus when he was sick, so sick that he became near death, Philippians 2:25-27?

Why was it that Paul did not heal Timothy, by prayer or by miracle, of his ‘often infirmities’ but rather prescribed ‘a little wine’ to help with his tummy trouble, 1st Timothy 5:23?

Was the good apostle forgetful, faithless or irresponsible when he left Trophimus at Miletus sick, 2nd Timothy 4:20? I don’t believe so.

What of Paul’s own ‘thorn in the flesh’, as he put it? He tells us very specifically that he prayed to God three times to be relieved of it, but it was not God’s will to say ‘yes’ to those prayers. Instead, God told Paul that His divine power was perfected in weakness, 2nd Corinthians 12:9. The Lord expected Paul to lean on His grace rather than a miraculous or even a natural remedy to his discomfort.

No, Jesus did not promise that through either prayer or faith in miracles His people would always be free from sickness and disease. Even Lazarus died, and it doesn’t matter which Lazarus you pick. The righteous Lazarus of Luke 16 was covered with sores and had to be laid in a place where he could beg (Luke 16:19-31). Jesus’ good friend Lazarus from Bethany also died, though he was later raised when Jesus called him from the grave, John 11:1-46.

Indeed, the righteous will live by their faith, Habakkuk 2:4 & Romans 1:17. Faith is what carries us through the difficult times. Hold fast that profession, Hebrews 10:23!

Marty Kessler