No, miracles did not suddenly disappear after the apostolic age. However, we need to remember that miracles also were God’s way of “authenticating” the true ministry of genuine apostles during the early days of the church. (There really were an awful lot of phony apostles running around back then!) The apostle Paul claimed that the church was able to know he was for real, and not phony, because of his lifestyle and “the things that mark an apostle—signs, wonders and miracles” (2 Cor. 12:12). So I have to bring a little balance to this point about miracles happening whole-scale nowadays. Wonders of healing were God’s way of spotlighting those men that He raised up to begin and lead the church. And those men healed the sick big time!
The Real Question
But that was then. Nowadays, the real question, of course, is not whether God can heal or does heal; it is whether or not God wills to heal all those who truly come to Him in faith. In other words, is it always a given that He will say yes to our requests for healing? Is it a sure thing, a slam-dunk that miraculous healing is always His first and best option?
Some assert that very thing and insist that if you aren’t experiencing this healing, it’s only because you lack the necessary faith or perhaps have some hidden sin in your life. Others still insist that, no, miraculous healing belonged to another era, and we ought not to expect or even seek such divine intervention.
Let me state my answer to the question—the real question—in just twelve words. It’s not a conclusion I have come to lightly; I have firmly arrived in this place after forty years of paralysis and decades of working with disabled and suffering people around this world.
Here is what I believe: God reserves the right to heal or not … as He sees fit.
There are times when I feel almost sure I know what would be best in a given situation. Lord, touch this woman’s body and raise her up! Lord, heal this child! Lord, relieve this man’s pain! Lord, reverse the effects of this terrible disease!
But the fact is I only know so much, I only understand so much, I only see so much, and I only grasp so much of what I do see. With Paul, I sometimes have to cry out, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!” (Rom. 11:33).
Not long ago, the words of this old hymn drifted into my mind:
I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned;
I only know at His right hand,
Stands One who is my Savior!1
Ah, there are many things that God has revealed—things I do know and understand. But there are many more things that He has not chosen to reveal yet and may not reveal this side of heaven. And one of those things is why He sometimes chooses to step in and supernaturally heal one person and not another.
But as you are no doubt aware, there are branches of Christendom in which individuals really do think they are “skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned” when it comes to sickness and disease. They will tell you that it’s always God’s will and desire to heal, and that if you’re not experiencing that healing, then there’s something wrong with you and with your faith.
I think back to a television interview I gave several years ago. It’s not often that I feel uneasy in participating in a live, on-camera conversation. But this was one experience I will never forget.
I don’t need to give the name of the popular Christian TV host, but suffice to say, our televised conversation didn’t go very well. From the moment the floor director counted down the final seconds and the light on the camera clicked to bright red, I felt an unmistakable uneasiness. The questions were pointed and abrupt—occasionally rude.
As I look back, the whole scene seems surreal to me—and not like an interview at all. I felt more like a witness being cross-examined by a crafty lawyer. It was perfectly obvious what he wanted me to say. He was trying to get me to state that decades of quadriplegia were actually a result of my lack of faith. In other words, God had wanted to heal me all along, and I really could have been healed—if only I had “believed for it.”
But I wasn’t going to say any such thing. It wouldn’t be true.
So I stood firm on Ephesians 1 and other Scriptures that confirm God works everything in accordance with His plan. And that plan often (actually, most often) allows for suffering or quadriplegia to continue for good and well-considered reasons that we often can’t understand or discern this side of heaven.
The TV host didn’t seem impressed with this line of reasoning. He had already made up his mind that he knew better, that it was always God’s will to heal, and that the problem was all with me. So he listened woodenly as I spoke, mostly without comment, until the interview drew to a close. Then he turned to address the small studio audience and the camera, a window to who knows how many people watching their televisions at that moment.
He explained to his viewers that while it was obvious that Joni hadn’t been healed of her infirmities, they, the viewers, could be. With confession of sin and enough faith to believe, they could experience what Joni had sadly not experienced. The people in the television audience who obeyed the correct formula could be—should be—healed.
Before I could jump in or speak a word in my own defense, the cameras turned to another segment on the studio stage. The red light on the camera blinked off. The interview was over.
I couldn’t believe what had just happened to me! Had this Christian TV icon not read all the scriptural instances in which God specifically tells His followers—even followers with great faith—to expect hardship? Or how the sufferings of Christ are supposed to overflow into our lives? Had he never read in Acts 14 that we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God? And that’s just scratching the surface of this New Testament teaching!
The man may have had a huge ministry and millions of viewers, but he was wrong. God is God, and it is He and He alone who decides who will be healed and who will not. Yes, faith is vital to everything, and “without faith it is impossible to please Him.” But faith’s focus must always be Jesus Christ—and nobody draws close to Christ who doesn’t first share in Christ’s sufferings. Just stop a minute and consider these awesome words from the apostle Peter, who wrote, “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). Christ and the manner in which He approached suffering is to be our focus, especially when the weight of our cross seems overwhelming. Man, it takes real faith to follow our suffering Savior’s example!
Besides, at the end of the day, it’s not a question of who has the most faith, but what God in His wisdom, love, and sovereignty chooses to do.
A Letter from Linda
Believe me, I know this is no mere academic discussion or idle talking point in some seminary cafeteria. Every day countless suffering, brokenhearted people spread their requests, hopes, and longings concerning these questions before the throne of heaven.
Here at Joni and Friends, as I mentioned, I receive so many letters from people who are struggling with blindness, encroaching disease, disability from injury, or maybe those with babies who have been born with a severe handicap. My heart aches with each such letter or email.
A woman named Linda recently wrote that she had taken her little boy with a brittle bone disease to a healing crusade. And even though she and her husband prayed, nothing happened at that crusade. It had been quite awhile, and their child was still struggling with this painful disability. In her letter to me, Linda confessed that the whole incident with the “healer” had nearly shipwrecked her faith.
As I have stated, at times of His choosing, God certainly does intervene and heal. But it’s also true that even though multitudes of devoted, good-hearted Christians pray in great faith, many eyes will stay blind. Many babies will die at birth. Many cancers will not be eradicated unt
il that once-and-forever healing of a new body and a new life in Christ’s presence. And many paraplegics and quadriplegics like me will never regain the use of legs or arms or hands that don’t work.
The Bible simply doesn’t teach that God will always heal those who come to Him in faith. He sovereignly reserves the right to heal or not heal, as He sees fit. Even when Jesus walked the earth, only a small number of people—those who happened to be in His immediate vicinity—were healed. Yes, He fed four thousand people, and five thousand at another time. But many in Israel still went hungry. He drove out demons wherever He went, but many demons remained entrenched. He raised several people from the dead, but it was really only a few, and even those died later on.
In my conversation with Linda I encouraged her to look at the first chapter of Mark’s gospel. After word spread throughout Capernaum about Jesus’ healing Simon’s mother-in-law, the whole town brought their sick and lame outside Simon’s home. Long after sunset, Jesus was still preaching the gospel and backing up His words by healing people with diseases and illnesses. And then it says the next day, very early in the morning, those people returned, bringing still more friends and more relatives who needed healing.
Jesus, however, was nowhere around.
Simon and his companions went to look for Him, and when they found Him, probably somewhere on the hill above Capernaum, praying, they said to Him, “Jesus, everyone is looking for You.” Translation: “There are lots more people who need healing. In fact, there are some really heartbreaking situations. You’ve only scratched the surface!”
Now you might imagine that Jesus, upon hearing this, would have jumped to His feet, gathered up His robe, and gone hurrying back down the hill to all those needy people who were waiting for Him—waiting in faith! But not so. If you read Mark 1:38, you can almost picture His rising slowly to His feet, dusting off His robe, and then replying after a moment’s thought: “Let’s go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach the gospel there, because that’s why I have come.”
As time has gone by since her disappointment at the healing crusade, Linda has begun to see that God is a lot higher, a lot bigger, and a lot more holy and sovereign than she ever realized. She’s learning that her God is in control—not only for the good of a little boy who still has brittle bone disease, but for her good as well.
Will she give up, then? Will she stop praying for her boy’s healing? Of course not. The gospel of Luke reminds us to pray always and not give up.2 Jesus Himself urges us to keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. God, in His grace and compassion, could yet choose to heal the boy. But it will be in His time, and in accordance with His mighty purposes. And for Linda, though her heart aches, that’s good enough.
In an insightful little volume penned over eighty years ago (I’ll reference this more completely in the next chapter), a missionary named Henry Frost wrote about several of his friends who had prayed for healing but were content to leave the results in the hands of God. In fact, some of these were healed while others weren’t. Did these suffering people all pray in assurance? Yes, Frost noted, but it wasn’t so much an assurance that their specific prayer would be answered. It was rather an assurance of the power, love, and wisdom of God.
He wrote: “The general attitude of those who prayed, and hence, of those who exercised faith, was this: They believed that God could heal; that He would heal if it was for His glory and for the good of the person who was sick; and finally, that He could be trusted implicitly to do what was right and best.”
Frost went on to add: “Those who prayed left the issue of their prayers with the heavenly Father in child-like confidence, repeating the prayer for healing until His will was known, and accepting the answer when it came, whatever it was, with submissive and trustful praise.”3
God’s Desires and My Desires
Some time ago at a Joni and Friends event, I met a man in a wheelchair named Lloyd. He had been in a car accident seven years previous and, as a result, was left a paraplegic—with no use of his legs. As the evening unfolded, I could tell by the expression on Lloyd’s face that something was deeply moving him. Just seeing and interacting with other people more disabled than he seemed to be helping his heart.
When the event was over, I grabbed the chance to speak with him. “Well,” he told me, “I’ve been to three healing crusades and … this is much more meaningful. I need to get involved in more stuff like this.”
Lloyd and I had a chance to talk about what happens at healing crusades. I shared that at one time, years ago, I too had been desperate to get healed. My sister Jay and I heard that Kathryn Kuhlman, a famous faith healer, was coming to the Washington, D.C., Hilton ballroom. Stories had reached us about cancer-ridden people who’d been cured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at one of her crusades. I wondered if I should go to the healing service in Washington, D.C.
One morning, when Jay was putting my legs through my range-of-motion exercises, Ernest Angley came on television. He was an odd sort of man who wore a bad toupee and ill-fitting suits, and Jay and I enjoyed his antics. My sister and I stopped and watched as people dropped their crutches or got up out of their wheelchairs, many raising their hands and declaring they were free from pain.
“Do you think God could heal you?” Jay asked, staring at the screen.
“Maybe it is time,” I replied. And so, wondering if this might be an answer to the prayers of many, we found our way to the Washington Hilton and the packed healing service in the big ballroom.
I remember the night so well. Miss Kuhlman breezed onto the stage under the spotlight in her white gown, and my heart raced as I prayed, Lord, the Bible says You heal all our diseases. I’m ready for You to get me out of this wheelchair. Please, would You? But the spotlight always seems to be directed toward some other part of the ballroom where apparent healings were happening. Never did they aim the light at the wheelchair section where all the “hard cases” were: quadriplegics like me, stroke survivors, children with muscular dystrophy, and men and women sitting stiff and rigid from multiple sclerosis.
God answered. And again, His answer was no.
After the crusade I was number fifteen in a line of thirty wheelchair users waiting to exit at the stadium elevator, all of us trying to make a fast escape ahead of the people on crutches. I remember glancing around at all the disappointed and quietly confused people and thinking, Something’s wrong with this picture. Is this the only way to deal with suffering? Trying desperately to remove it? Get rid of it? Heal it?
Lloyd asked me, “How did you resolve that, Joni?”
I took a deep breath and sat silent for a moment.
“Lloyd,” I said slowly. “I did resolve it. I resolved the issue with one simple Bible verse. Psalm 37:4: ‘Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.’”4
Lloyd shot me a quick look. I knew what he was thinking. It would seem like that kind of verse would be a guarantee of healing!
“I can read your thoughts, Lloyd,” I said with a smile, “but let me explain.”
And so, for the remaining time we talked, I reflected on how after that Katherine Kuhlman crusade, I had embarked on a quest to delight myself in the Lord. “I started reading the Bible more and praying and asking God to reveal Himself,” I told him. “I asked Him to show me His heart, give me His passion for the lost, keep me from temptation, and help me be a better witness.
“In the process of my pursuit, I just ate God up. I made it my goal to simply delight myself in Him. And not with the purpose of holding back on a couple of desires I’d hoped He would quickly fulfill once I delighted myself in Him. No, I didn’t center on what God could do for me. Not how He could please me, but how I could please Him. I kept putting my wants and wishes in check and, instead, made certain my goal was simply to enjoy the Lord being … the Lord! And you’ll never guess what happen
ed!”
Lloyd shook his head and didn’t try to guess.
“God gave me the desires of my heart!” I said.
Lloyd looked at my wheelchair, then back at my face. He was listening very intently.
“It’s true,” I said. “He really did. The thing was, because I had delighted myself in God, He miraculously replaced my little private lists of wants and wishes with a list of His own. His desires became mine. And what are His desires? That the gospel go forth, that the kingdom be advanced, that the earth be reclaimed as rightfully His, that the lost get saved, that His glories be made known.
“That’s when it hit me, Lloyd. My wheelchair was the key to seeing all this happen—especially since God’s power always shows up best in weakness. So here I sit … glad that I have not been healed on the outside, but glad that I have been healed on the inside. Healed from my own self-centered wants and wishes.”
It was then Lloyd’s turn to take a deep breath, be quiet for a moment, look at his own wheelchair, and then … smile.
How Does He Care for Us?
Every now and then, as I mentioned in my introduction, I still meet people who want to pray for my physical healing.
As I’ve said, I never turn someone down who wants to intercede for me. But recently, when a woman named Karen asked if she could pray for me, I first asked her to pray specifically about things in my life that truly needed healing—such as my tendencies toward selfishness, my lazy attitude about important spiritual disciplines, and things like that.
I could tell that wasn’t what Karen had in mind. She wanted to see me get up and walk. Right then. After we had prayed, she continued to press her point about God’s care and compassion for “people like you, in your wheelchairs.”
A Place of Healing Page 4