Where does the Bible tell us sickness is good?

[Gideon300]

Good question. I believe that God works all things together for our good. Recently, I had an accident that prevents me from helping my wife with her regular treatment for lymphoma. We have now have a visiting helper to take my place. She is a born again believer who loves Jesus. We've had good fellowship and we've been able to help her with some issues that she's facing.

About 3 years ago, I was in hospital with pancreatitis. I was able to witness to some of the staff, including a doctor who was raised in a Christian home but who did not believe. My now wife prayed for me, out loud, while the doctor was there. The doctor told me that she saw my wife's prayer answered to the letter.

I would not wish the illness on my worst enemy. However, I also knew the peace of Christ that passes understanding in the midst of that "storm". In this world, we have tribulation. It takes many forms. Sometimes God permits us to suffer so that we can prove Him, His mercy and His grace. If we respond correctly, God will effect a change in our hearts for the better. Sometimes it takes an earthly trial to bring about a spiritual blessing.

 

[Edify]

I take it Paul was glad of strength from God, as am I. I always pray and thank God for helping and healing me. Yet I am just not going to ever thank God for an illness or disease.

I have read of some people who do that, actually rejoicing in a painful condition that they feel brings them closer to God. I reckon that is misguided.

Hi MaryM. I can't tell you the answer you need. I could quote all those Bible verses & it would do no good. You're suffering, & I can't fix that. I can't tell you why you're still suffering. But let me try to help you anyways.
Jesus told his disciples, 19Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
I don't think any of us rejoice over our sicknesses. That said, All of us should rejoice because our names are written in Heaven.
Your sickness doesn't seem to do you any good, but it should force you to look foward to seeing Jesus face to face being completely new & whole.
If it wasn't for Jesus, I know I wouldn't be alive today. I've had 3 heart attacks, the first one verified by a surgeon as a widowmaker & the majority die instantly. Yet when I had my 3rd, the doctors said my heart had no damage. I have no way to explain that at all except Jesus wanted me to stay alive for a reason. I am thankful, grateful, & joyful because of that.
I know there's a purpose for your life, because you're still alive. Fulfilling God's purpose can also bring you joy. You can be used By God in ways I cannot hope to. I can't fix you, but hopefully I've said something to lift you up.

 

[studentoftheword]

Again ---you either believe and put into practice what this Scripture says or you don't believe it and ignore what it is saying ------OR you make up your own twisted Gospel by saying God Blesses us with Sickness and Disease so He can work all things for the Good ---whren the Scripture says Otherwise -----

This Scripture tells you how to have health in your Body ----but it is up to you to put the HOW TO into practice ----being a True Christian takes putting your Faith into the Right Action to obtain what is available to you ----

You don't just get a free pass to healing when you get saved --it requires doing what the Word ---who is Jesus ----tells you to do to have good health -----it takes ---action ---steadfastness --diligence and grounded and rooted Faith in Jesus who is ---The Word ---who is our Healer ---

Proverbs 4 BSB
20My son, pay attention to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.

21Do not lose sight of them;
keep them within your heart.

22 For they are life to those who find them,
and health to the whole body.

23Guard your heart with all diligence,
for from it flow springs of life.

24Put away deception from your mouth;
keep your lips from perverse speech.

25Let your eyes look forward;
fix your gaze straight ahead.

26 Make a level path for your feet,b
and all your ways will be sure.

27Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your feet away from evil

Born Again People can still get sick because we live in a cursed world ---and we allow the stresses of this world to affect us -----instead of allowing the PEACE OF God to inhabit our Bodies ---Mind and Spirit ------We allow ---Stress --Anxiety ---Doubt of Scripture --Fear ----Worry -----to inhabit our systems ------and all cause -----DIS___EASE in our Bodies ----and DIS__EASE in our Body --Mind and Spirit causes --a breakdown in our Immune System and this causes Born Again People to get Sick and Diseased -------Not God ---Jesus broke the Curse of Sickness and Disease and Brought back the Blessings ---Salvation bring Health and Healing both Spiritually and Physically ------

Jesus took our Sicknesses and Diseases with Him on the Cross by His Shed Blood that poured from the Flogging he endured -----By the Stripes on His Back ---YOU ARE HEALED ------

This is what causes Born Again people to get Sick ---

https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/effects-on-body
The Effects of Stress on Your Body
Stress triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response. Chronic stress can cause negative health effects on your mood, immune and digestive systems, and cardiovascular health.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-immune.html

The main types of immune cells are white blood cells. There are two types of white blood cells – lymphocytes and phagocytes.
When we’re stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections.

People who say God uses sickness for our Good ---are preaching another Gospel ---and Paul says this ----

 

[MaryM]

I remember when I was younger, there was this guy at my old church who was a doctor who was already in his own practice (he specialized in back problems) and he was engaged to a girl who was working on her masters degree and going to be a psychiatrist. So everyone saw them as this attractive power couple - smart, both good-looking, AND godly. They got married. The next you thing you know something happened to him - something wrong with his leg bones. He ended up in a wheel chair and lost his ability to walk!!! I had moved away and lost track, so I don't know what happened after that. I knew that before I moved away, that he said that this condition humbled him very much. I don't know if he could have continue in his practice - but he can still diagnose can't he? And I think it humbled the girl too because I think she was very proud of them as doctor and psychiatrist and being a power couple that everybody held in high esteem. This condition also cut into their salaries too.

I didn't think it was something to gloat over though. What this showed me was that God loved them so much that He destroyed their pride so that they wouldn't continue in that sin. The illness/disorder made them both depend on God and kind of cut them down in the eyes of everyone. I mean, everybody and I held them in high esteem before that but after that, I got really cautious about ever becoming prideful. I didn't want to end up like them.


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I understand that. Pride does come before a fall and the best lessons we learn are through hard times and pain. Arrogance is often humbled through adversity.

Yet I am not certain I would thank God for pain and disease. Rather I always pray for strength and comfort to bring me through that.

 

[MaryM]

Hi MaryM. I can't tell you the answer you need. I could quote all those Bible verses & it would do no good. You're suffering, & I can't fix that. I can't tell you why you're still suffering. But let me try to help you anyways.
Jesus told his disciples, 19Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you. 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
I don't think any of us rejoice over our sicknesses. That said, All of us should rejoice because our names are written in Heaven.
Your sickness doesn't seem to do you any good, but it should force you to look foward to seeing Jesus face to face being completely new & whole.
If it wasn't for Jesus, I know I wouldn't be alive today. I've had 3 heart attacks, the first one verified by a surgeon as a widowmaker & the majority die instantly. Yet when I had my 3rd, the doctors said my heart had no damage. I have no way to explain that at all except Jesus wanted me to stay alive for a reason. I am thankful, grateful, & joyful because of that.
I know there's a purpose for your life, because you're still alive. Fulfilling God's purpose can also bring you joy. You can be used By God in ways I cannot hope to. I can't fix you, but hopefully I've said something to lift you up.

Thankyou , that is so very inspiring.

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

I understand that. Pride does come before a fall and the best lessons we learn are through hard times and pain. Arrogance is often humbled through adversity.

Yet I am not certain I would thank God for pain and disease. Rather I always pray for strength and comfort to bring me through that.

Yeah, I agree with you. But this is not the first time you posted about this. Are you feeling some guilt for not thanking God for pain and disease? I want to comfort you if that is the case.

We're to thank Him in all situations, but I don't recall God actually saying anywhere in the Bible that we should thank Him for the pain and discomfort itself. Even when Jesus was here, I don't ever recall Him thanking His Father for the pain He was about to face on the cross (mainly being separated from His Father). He was thankful for the strength and the end result of His suffering, salvation for us and also being with His Father again.

So if you're feeling bad about not thanking Him for the pain, remember that you are in good company with the Lord Jesus!


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[MaryM]

Yeah, I agree with you. But this is not the first time you posted about this. Are you feeling some guilt for not thanking God for pain and disease? I want to comfort you if that is the case.

We're to thank Him in all situations, but I don't recall God actually saying anywhere in the Bible that we should thank Him for the pain and discomfort itself. Even when Jesus was here, I don't ever recall Him thanking His Father for the pain He was about to face on the cross (mainly being separated from His Father). He was thankful for the strength and the end result of His suffering, salvation for us and also being with His Father again.

So if you're feeling bad about not thanking Him for the pain, remember that you are in good company with the Lord Jesus!


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I hadn't realised but I do repeat myself a lot, part of getting old I guess!
I only began thinking about this matter when I read how some people welcome pain and disease as a learning opportunity almost. They think it is a positive in itself.
Well I think that is not right, not in my view. I hate pain!

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

I hadn't realised but I do repeat myself a lot, part of getting old I guess!
I only began thinking about this matter when I read how some people welcome pain and disease as a learning opportunity almost. They think it is a positive in itself.
Well I think that is not right, not in my view. I hate pain!

Yeah, Jesus did not go out His way to seek out pain unnecessarily. He accepts it as part of His mission or calling. Once the mission or objective was achieved, He moved on the next assignment. Didn't linger to experience more pain for superfluous reasons.

So if you ever come across such people again and they're promoting this idea, you can point out to them that Jesus in the Bible didn't do that!


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[Jimbone]

Who says sickness is to our benefit? There are Christians who think this, that we ought to be grateful for our afflictions and find in them lessons God is teaching us .
In the writings of the Rev JR Miller which overall I like, yet I do not agree with him that sicknesses are blessings.

My major argument is that Jesus Christ spent a huge amount of time healing every kind of sickness. He wanted us to have life abundantly. How can anyone who is in pain have that?

First of all I think making statements like "sickness is to our benefit", or "God doesn't want us sick, He will cure all the faithful", are not statements that can even be true in all cases. Like you can be blessed through tribulation, just like seeming blessings can turn into curses, like winning the lottery. So these kind of statements are a bit audacious and just simply cannot hold water.

I do want to share with you an example of God used the brokenness of my body to bless me. It's not exactly "sickness", but I believe it applies. I was born and blessed with a pretty darn good body, fully functional and very capable of holding up to anything I wanted to train it to do. Really all I'm trying to say is I was very blessed with a healthy and capable body, that for the first 33 years of my life never one time thanked God for. So at 31 years old on 10-25-11 I was leaving my job and I hopped on my motorcycle to go home and woke up 19 days later in the hospital. After it was said and done I lost all function of my right (and dominant) arm. Was by far the worst thing that ever happen to me, and happen when I thought I was a Christian as well. I had already responded to the alter call, went up front, repeated the prayer, and then went to be baptized for good measure. I was declared saved by all the church leaders I knew.

I say that because the next two years of my life were a downward spiral. I honestly wanted nothing but to die. I can't feel my right arm at all so /I even had an easy way to do it without pain. I'd rundown everything around me like my work can replace my, my wife can find someone else to love her, my dad will get over it, all the way down to my two sons. I knew that no one could replace me there, no one could love my sons like their father does, or would fight as hard for them as me. So I was stuck. That didn't stop the suicidal thought that plagued my thoughts all day everyday though. I couldn't help it, I could make myself be better either. For two years solid everyday at least once every 5 minute I thought about killing myself.

Then after two years of that I was home alone for the first time in a while, and one Sept.29th 2013 it all came to a head and I hit my knees. I knew that the doctors couldn't help me, science couldn't fix me, money could do nothing, and even what I thought of as God at that point couldn't help me. I was hopeless and broken and saw myself for exactly what I was, and hit my knees in surrender. At this point I wasn't seeking God, wasn't telling Jesus "I'm ready now", nothing like that, I thought I'd already done all that and it didn't help. No when I hit my knees a said "I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore, I can't do this anymore, world you win, I lose, and I quit!!!" That was it, picked myself up off the floor, dried myself off, and went to bed.

The next day I got up and went to work like always, and it wasn't until lunch that next day that it hit me like a ton of bricks, I haven't thought about killing myself today!!!!" At that moment I knew two things,#1 Whatever this was, it was God, and #2 Jesus was His Son. I was born again that day and now 10 years later He is still using me and I love it.

So see now I pray thank you to Him for this hardship, still the hardest thing I've had to go through so far in life, I THANK HIM for it in truth because this was what He used to draw me into Him. This "sickness" ended up the most amazing thing that's ever happen to me because it opened my eyes to truth and reconciled me to my Creator. Best thing ever. So this is an example of how a sickness can be a blessing and something I could be grateful for.

 

[MaryM]

Yeah, Jesus did not go out His way to seek out pain unnecessarily. He accepts it as part of His mission or calling. Once the mission or objective was achieved, He moved on the next assignment. Didn't linger to experience more pain for superfluous reasons.

So if you ever come across such people again and they're promoting this idea, you can point out to them that Jesus in the Bible didn't do that!


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No need for self flagellation, or the irritating people that say sickness is punishment or a blessing. I don't think it is either. It's just bad luck but God helps you cope or heal if you pray. I think it's that simple. If you don't get healed, then you must accept it because God has a reason for not helping at that precise time in the way you think He ought. I always pray with hope, not demands.

 

[2ndTimeIsTheCharm]

No need for self flagellation, or the irritating people that say sickness is punishment or a blessing. I don't think it is either. It's just bad luck but God helps you cope or heal if you pray. I think it's that simple. If you don't get healed, then you must accept it because God has a reason for not helping at that precise time in the way you think He ought. I always pray with hope, not demands.

Well Deuteronomy actually says that certain sickness is a punishment for disobedience, but not all sickness is a result of that.

I agree with you that I haven't come across any Bible verse that says sickness is a blessing in itself, but how one deals with it by depending on God can be.


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