Rock of Offence (9) - The Big Question

I am convinced that a core obstacle to the gifts of healing is offence at God. As Christians have prayed earnestly for people that they love to be healed of sickness without success, their hope has gradually subsided into despair. Because they have not been taught about the danger of being offended at God, they have often asked the wrong questions. The big question most commonly asked is this.

Why did God allow this to happen?

This is a very dangerous question, because it puts God on trial. It assumes that he is responsible for what happened. If the grief is deep, the question can easily be tinged by accusation and blame.

The problem with this question is that God not allow Christians to die. By sending Jesus to suffer and die, he has provided the church with a solution for sickness. He has given the Church responsibility for healing sickness, so we must be very careful about assigning responsibility for evil back to him. Sickness was caused by the devil. We must be very careful that we do not blame God for the actions of the evil one.

If the big question is not quickly turned around, the questioner will be offended at God. A more dangerous question soon follows.

Can I trust God?

The motivation behind this question is offence at God. It kills faith and shuts up the Holy Spirits power. He cannot work in the midst of people who doubt his power or willingness to heal

We must learn to ask the right questions. When a Christian dies of cancer, we ask,

Why did God not heal him?
Why did God allow him to die?

Perhaps we should be asking,

Why is our Church so powerless?
Why do our elders not have victory over sickness?
Have we misunderstood the Gospel?
Have we misunderstood God’s promises?
Did we get something wrong?

We must deal with this issue, if we want to see the breakthrough in healing that many are seeking.

The full series is here.