Illness: Blessing or Curse?
As long as we live in this mortal body, sickness and disease will continue to be a cause for concern. The intent of this article is to discuss from a biblical perspective whether sickness is a blessing or a curse. Many people say, maybe God has seen fit to put this disease on me for his glory. Another reason may be, it is his will that I be ill. I’ve heard statements like, “It may be one of the mysterious ways he does good things in my life.” Here are some biblical positions regarding the disease.
1. God calls disease captivity
Being in captivity implies the loss of freedom, well-being and, in extreme cases, self-control. If the disease has held you captive, you understand what it means to lose your well-being. In scripture we read: “The Lord brought back the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends” (Job 2:10, KJV). Again in verse 7 we read: “And Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with a boil from the sole of his foot to the top of his head.”
When Job was healed, the Bible records that God released him from captivity. The captivity could not be the will of God because Jesus came to bring release to the captives. The Lord calls sickness captivity and gave his back to be beaten, so that by those wounds you may be healed. The problem that is obvious in this case is the lack of faith to believe in the word of God.
two. Jesus called sickness slavery.
God does not bind people with sickness but rather loses them. We read: “And this woman, being the daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, behold, these eighteen years, should she not be loosed from this bondage on the Sabbath day” (Luke 13:16, KJV). You see, illness is considered by the Lord as a bondage. The bondage of disease is not a blessing but a curse.
When you are bound by disease, you are in great suffering and pain. From what we see in the Scriptures, the Lord does not bind us with sickness so that He can be glorified. Just as he told the Israelites, he is saying the same thing today: “I am the Lord who heals you.” Jesus is our healer according to the Scriptures. Slavery cannot be God’s will for us, Jesus came to set the wounded free. He sees sickness as the Lord sees it, a curse, not a blessing.
3. He speaks of illness as oppression.
The Bible says that Jesus went about doing good, and healing all those oppressed by the devil, not all those who were wounded by the Father. Sickness is the oppression of the devil and should not be tolerated by the born again believer. We are called to resist the devil and he will flee from us.
God does not intend for you to be oppressed with any form of disease or any other type of oppression.
Four. God gives us power to overcome diseases
If sickness were a blessing, why should the Lord give us the authority to heal the sick? He would be denying the people the privilege of being smitten by disease. This is not so, we read: “And calling the twelve disciples of his, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and every disease” (Matthew 10:1, KJV).
We are healers instead of Christ, called to heal all manner of sickness and disease on the authority of Jesus’ name. Sickness is not a blessing, it is a curse. Thank the Lord because by his stripes you were healed.
Do not try to believe, act according to the word of God; that is believing. And nothing, even sickness or disease, will be impossible for you. The will of the Lord is that you enjoy good health, that you be prosperous even when you are doing well in your spiritual life/walk.