A view in the Church today is that God sends sickness to
test us throughout our daily walk with Christ. Is this really how a Father would
act with His children? To answer this question, we must look at what God’s own
Word says about His relationship with His children and sickness. Let’s explore
some of these passages.
Psalm 103:2-3:
1 Peter 2:24:
Who his own self [Christ] bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
3 John 1:2:
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.
Psalm 42:11:
Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
As we see in His Word, God wants us to be healthy and has
already healed us through his Son’s sacrifice and resurrection. This notion
that God sends disease upon us to test us is an absurd notion because the Bible
is also clear on who sends us disease and death. This is, of course, the devil.
John 10:10:
The thief [the devil] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
Hebrews 2:14:
Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil…
1 Peter 5:8-9:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
All of this is but a taste of what the Word has to offer on
the subject, but it is definitely enough to get the point of how God is
referred to as a Healer and the devil as a destroyer. As we further expand on
the record in 1 Peter 5, we see the dichotomy perfectly laid out to us between
God and the devil.
1 Peter 5:8-11:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
We see that the afflictions which are
accomplished in our brethren are a continuation of the description of the devil
as we are to resist him knowing that, “Yes, we might suffer his afflictions
which he uses to inflict upon the world.” However, it is God Almighty who is
there to lift us up in our sufferings. It is He Who perfects us and establishes
us. In Psalm 69:29 it says, “But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O
God, set me up on high.” God sets us high above the Earth and the present
trouble as it says in Psalm 46:1. It is God Who strengthens us as it says in
Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be
weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” And it is God who settles us.
Does the God Who makes us perfect, strengthens,
establishes, and settles us sound like the God who would give us sickness just
to test us? Certainly not! Some might point out the passage in 1 Peter 1:6-7
which mentions trials of the faith as proof that God sends calamity to test our
resolve. This simply is not the case.
1 Peter 1:6-7:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.
So, yes the Word does mention that our
faith will go through trials or you could say “tested.” Though, God is not the
one who is causing the trials. Reading in the context from verse 6, we see that
the trials come from “manifold temptations” which only come from the devil and
not from God.
James 1:13-15:
Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
Thus, the “manifold temptations” cannot
come from God because God does not tempt man. A key word exists in this passage
which will lead us to who exactly is responsible for the temptations and that
is the word: death. As we learned in Hebrews 2:14, the devil has the power of
death meaning that he must be the one who brings forth temptations. This fact
is corroborated by Matthew 4:3 which refers to the devil as “the tempter.” The dichotomy between the goodness of God and
the evilness of the devil is further expounded in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 10:13:
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
God is so great that He will provide us with the means to
escape anything we are going through or any temptation which might rear its
ugly head. One last question must be asked concerning the passage in 1
Corinthians 10. So if we are to believe that God sends sickness to test us then
what happens to those who have died or are incapacitated? Did those who die,
fail the test God was administering? How much testing is enough for God to
finally say, “Okay, I got what I needed?” Or, how far is God willing to take it
with the sickness? Those question cannot be answered by the Word because that
belief is not Biblical. It is clearly the devil who causes us to be sick and
destroys us, but it is God who delivers.
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