WHEN HEALING DOESN'T COME

DR. Edwin Rideout

WHEN HEALING DOESN'T COME

“They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” — Mark 16:18

This scripture offers a bold promise—a vision of miraculous healing flowing through the hands of those who believe. It has inspired countless prayers for the sick, hopeful declarations in hospital rooms, and the faith-filled ministry of healing across centuries. But what happens when healing doesn’t come?

What do you do when, after praying, laying on hands, anointing with oil, fasting, and believing, you find yourself at the funeral?

What do you do when, after praying, laying on hands, anointing with oil, fasting, and believing, you find yourself at the funeral? I’ve stood in that place more times than I care to recount. The ache is real, the silence loud, and the question relentless: “What am I lacking?”

One episode will be forever etched in my heart: I watched a young couple bring their precious daughter forward for prayer Sunday after Sunday. They came—hopeful and steadfast. I stood by as well-meaning, sincere people prophesied healing. I also helplessly hugged them at her deathbed.

The New Testament shows that even the most faithful believers did not always experience immediate or visible healing. The Apostle Paul, who healed many, left Trophimus sick in Miletus (2 Tim. 4:20), and he advised Timothy to take a little wine for his frequent ailments (1 Tim. 5:23). Healing is never a reward for spiritual effort—it is a gift granted by God’s sovereign will.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus healed often but not indiscriminately. At the Pool of Bethesda, He healed one man, leaving others in need (John 5). This incident informs us that miracles are signs of the Kingdom, not a guarantee of physical restoration for all in this present age. On one occasion, Jesus referred to the ministry of Elijah and Elisha:

But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:25-27 ESV).

Faith is not measured by results—it’s measured by obedience. If you’ve prayed for the sick in love, you walk in faith.

Like me, many quietly wonder if they’re failing spiritually because they don’t see miraculous outcomes. After years of wrestling, contemplating and praying, here is where I have landed: Faith is not measured by results—it’s measured by obedience. If you’ve prayed for the sick in love, you walk in faith. Results are God’s responsibility. Jesus praised those who believed without seeing (John 20:29). Our faithfulness in the silence speaks volumes in heaven, even when nothing seems to shift on earth.

Sometimes, healing is immediate (Mark 1:31), sometimes gradual (Mark 8:22–25), sometimes it’s spiritual or emotional before it’s physical, and sometimes it will only be fulfilled fully in eternity, when every tear is wiped away (Revelation 21:4). God’s silence does not mean absence. His “no” may be a “not yet.” And His delays are never denials of His love; this is portrayed in his showing up late at Lazarus’s tomb (John 11:38-44).

Compassion, not results, should move us to pray. You are not powerless. You are not faithless. You are not failing. You are participating in the mystery of Kingdom work, where faith sometimes sees the miracle, and other times refuses to stop loving when the miracle doesn’t come. Keep praying. Keep showing up. Healing belongs to God, but compassion belongs to all of us.