We can believe in miracles, but miracles aren’t a measure of faith. I believe God can heal. I believe we should pray boldly, trust Him completely, and never underestimate His power to intercede in the midst of our suffering.
Yes, I believe faith and healing are connected, but healing is not dependent upon someone’s faith. It’s easy to turn our faith into a formula: give generously enough, and God will make you wealthy; pray the right way, and God will give you what you ask for; or, pray hard enough, believe strongly enough, and God will heal you.
And if He doesn’t provide these things? Someone might say, “Oh, you must not have believed enough.” But I think not. That’s not what Scripture teaches.
Paul pleaded with God three times to remove his “thorn in the flesh.” God didn’t remove it. Instead, He reminded Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9, NIV).
Paul had extraordinary faith. Yet his prayer wasn’t answered the way he wanted.
Timothy also experienced recurring physical ailments. In 1 Timothy 5:23, Paul offered practical advice for his stomach problems rather than suggesting Timothy needed more faith.
Job is another powerful example. In the opening chapters of Job, we learn that he was a righteous man who feared God, yet he experienced devastating loss, physical suffering, and profound grief. His friends repeatedly tried to explain his suffering by suggesting that he must have done something wrong. But their assumptions were misguided. Job’s suffering was not proof of weak faith or personal failure. In fact, God challenged the way Job’s friends had spoken about Him (Job 42:7).
The book of Job reminds us that we don’t always know why suffering happens, and we should be cautious about offering explanations God Himself has not given us. Sometimes, the most damaging thing we can do to someone who is suffering is to assume we know why God allowed it or the person did something to cause it.
Scripture repeatedly reminds us that suffering isn’t always a reflection of someone’s spiritual condition.
Yes, Jesus sometimes connected faith with healing. But there’s a big difference between believing God can heal and believing He has promised to heal everyone who has enough faith.
Hebrews 11 reminds us that faith isn’t a guarantee that life will unfold as we hope. It’s trusting God and remaining faithful to Him, even when the outcome is uncertain or the answer never comes in the way we expected.
We can trust in God, even when we don’t understand His ways.
We can pray expectantly. We can believe in miracles. We can seek medical treatment and hope for healing. But when healing doesn’t come, we must resist the temptation to place the blame on the person who is suffering.
Imagine carrying the weight of a serious illness and then being told your faith isn’t strong enough. As if the pain weren’t enough, now you must question your relationship with God, too. That’s not the burden I believe Scripture asks us to place on one another.
Sometimes, like Job, people don’t need an explanation for their suffering. They need someone willing to sit beside them in the ashes.
So we pray for healing. We believe God is able. We hope for the miracle. But if healing doesn’t come, we needn’t put someone’s faith on trial.
We can believe in miracles without blaming people when miracles don’t come. And we can trust God’s goodness without pretending we understand every outcome.
Sometimes the most faithful thing we can do is love someone through their pain and remind them that God AND we haven’t left their side.