God Must Really Trust You [False Views About Sickness 4]

Unbiblical Beliefs About Healing

There are many unbiblical beliefs people hold that hinder them from being healed. I recently heard of this one while reading a book about Smith Wigglesworth. I’d never heard this one before but thought I should include it in this series of articles on false views about healing.

Smith Wigglesworth was a plumber in England that accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. He worked his job and ministered on the side. After being baptized with the Holy Spirit, Smith began to pray for the sick and see many people healed of their afflictions.

He began holding meetings and many miracles took place through him in the name of Jesus. People would constantly contact him and ask him to come and pray for those who were too sick to attend a meeting.

I’m sorry that I don’t recall all of the details of this healing. I read so much that sometimes I can’t remember where I read something, but recall the important details. This story is such a story.

Smith was called to pray for a very sick person. A pastor accompanied him on the trip. They went into the bedroom of the sick person and the pastor decided that he should minister to the sick person.

He bent over and told the person, “God must trust you very much to allow you to bear this sickness.” That was too much for Smith. He kicked the pastor out of the room and began to minister to the person. In a short time, the person was healed and got out of bed.

Some may think that Smith was rude and unbending in kicking the pastor out of the room. Smith knew that the words he was speaking would deflate the faith of the one for whom he came to pray.

He knew the pastor was not walking in the Spirit and did not believe in healing. There are many things wrong with the mindset of the pastor and the words he spoke. If the person believed his word, they might feel good about themselves but they would never be healed. Here are a few of the implications of the pastor’s words.

It Makes God the Author of Sickness

When the pastor said God must trust you very much to give you this sickness points to the fact that he believed God is the one behind the sickness. Whether he thought God allowed it or that God actually gave it to the person, this sickness was given because of the deep trust that God had for the person.

God only allows this for people He can trust. The wording makes sickness some sort of an honor that God only gives to those who are trustworthy.

It’s a False Attempt to Encourage the Sick Person

The pastor seems to be attempting to encourage the person with some form of man-made compassion to help them feel better about the situation they were facing. You’re sick, therefore God must trust you.

He was not coming to pray for healing. He was coming to bring comfort to help the person endure the sickness they were experiencing. This false form of comfort and encouragement would have left the person as sick as they were when he entered the room.

Smith came to pray for healing and see the person get up off of their sickbed and live. He could not allow such unbelief and false care to stand in the way of the person being healed.

It Seeks to Make Sickness into Something Good and Productive

Sickness is part of the curse. It’s an enemy to everyone it attacks. Those who don’t believe God heals today have to come up with a reason as to why a believer in Jesus Christ is sick. They must try to come up with a silver lining in the cloud of sickness.

This false belief about sickness makes it a sign of maturity and trust. God in His infinite wisdom has allowed this sickness in your life because of your standing with him. The sickness you are enduring is not a terrible thing but is something that proves your worth in God’s eyes.

The only problem is how does this make any sense? That would mean the closer you get to God the more likely it is that He will allow sickness to come upon you as a sign of His trust. What kind of picture of God does this conjure?

It Misrepresents God Who Sent Jesus to Bear Our Sickness and Disease

Micael Brown makes a great point in His Book Israel’s Divine Healer. He mentions that sickness is never seen as a good thing in Scripture. Sickness is always seen as a judgment for sin. It is never seen as a blessing, only part of the curse.

God is seen as a healer throughout the Scripture, especially the New Testament. Jesus came to reveal to us the heart of the Father. He came as the image of the invisible God. Everything that Jesus did fully represented God. He proclaimed that He did nothing on His own initiative but only those things that He heard and saw the Father doing.

Can you recall one passage of Scripture where Jesus spoke to a sick person and told them that God must trust them a lot in order to have such a sickness? Of course not! Jesus saw sickness as an enemy and an oppressor of the people who were afflicted with it.

Jesus is Compassionate

Here are a couple of passages that speak to His compassion toward the sick and demon afflicted.

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 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. (Matthew 4:23-24)

16 When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:“He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16-17)

35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:35-36)

14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. (Matthew 14:14)

30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. (Matthew 15:30-31)

Each of these passages gives an overview of Jesus’ ministry. There is not even a hint that Jesus considered sickness as a good thing or that the sick were in any way trusted by God to have their sickness.

Jesus had compassion for the sick seeing them as being harassed and helpless. Read the verses again and see that Jesus healed all who were sick. He cast demons out of all who were afflicted.

You see the heart of God in every person Jesus healed. If sickness was a good thing, then Jesus was unaware of the benefits. God was also because Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. 

Every healing and deliverance was coming from the heart of the Father. His view was that sickness was an enemy and that Jesus came proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom of God where sicknesses are healed and demonic powers cast out.

Make no mistake that Jesus came as our healer, not as our afflicter. Praise God for the precious gift of healing.

It Makes a Person Embrace and Accept His or Her Sickness

The main problem with this false view of sickness is that it makes the one who is sick embrace their sickness as some sort of blessing of the Lord. If God is trusting them with this sickness, then to stand against it and seek healing is to go against the will of God. In this mindset to embrace sickness is a badge of honor and maturity.

What better way can the enemy keep his hold on the people of God than to convince them that God is behind their sickness? What better way can believers who believe that healing of the sick is not for today encourage those who are sick than to say that God must trust them greatly to allow this sickness?

Reject the Lie and Come to Jesus as Your Healer

If there is even a hint of a thought in your mind that God is behind your sickness and that there is some sort of good thing that is happening in your life because of it, I want to encourage you to reject it as a lie and come to Jesus for healing.

If there’s a shadow of a doubt in your mind that Jesus wants to heal you, reread the verses above, and put yourself as one who is seeking Jesus. Press in and believe Jesus wants to heal you as He did those with severe pain, with seizures, the paralyzed, the lame, the blind, the crippled, and the mute. 

Treat sickness as the enemy it is. Jesus healed every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. He broke the power of the enemy and brought healing to all who sought Him. May faith rise up in your heart to pursue Jesus your healer. May His compassion pour out on you as you press in to receive your healing.

P.S. If you read this article and were healed as a result let us know your story in the comments below.