When Healing Doesn’t Come: Holding Onto Hope in a World of Suffering
- Beverly Ward
- 3 hours ago
- 5 min read
by Beverly Ward This one is dedicated to my beloved husband, Bruce—who, though non-ambulatory with advanced MS, is scaling the highest places with Jesus, step by surrendered step.
By His wounds we are healed.
It’s a promise we cling to, especially when life hurts. Isaiah 53:5 is often quoted in hospital rooms, whispered in prayers, and etched on hearts that ache for relief. And it’s true—beautifully, powerfully true.
But what happens when the healing doesn’t come?
When the diagnosis doesn’t change, the pain persists, or the grief lingers long past what others consider “normal”?
Some well-meaning voices say, “If you just had enough faith, God would heal you.” They mean to inspire hope. But this message can quietly wound. It can leave us feeling like our suffering is our fault. That we didn’t pray hard enough. That if we were better Christians, our bodies—or our circumstances—would be whole by now.
But that’s not the full story. The Bible tells a deeper truth—one that acknowledges pain, honors faith, and holds space for both suffering and hope.
Let’s walk through that truth together.
Suffering Is Part of This Life
From the very beginning, Scripture doesn’t shy away from suffering. Genesis 3 describes the fall of humanity—and with it, the unraveling of God’s perfect design. Pain, toil, sickness, and death enter the human story.
“Cursed is the ground because of you… By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground…”— Genesis 3:17–19
This world is broken. And even creation itself is groaning under the weight of it.
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”— Romans 8:22
We feel that groaning, don’t we? In doctor’s offices. In silent nights when sleep won’t come. In unexpected losses and prayers that appear, to us, unanswered.
But none of it means God has left us. He will never leave you or forsake you.
God Is With Us in Our Suffering
God never promised a life without pain. But He did promise His presence in it.
“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”— Psalm 34:18
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned.”— Isaiah 43:2
God doesn’t wait for us on the other side of suffering. He walks with us through it.
Jesus—our Savior, our Shepherd—knows suffering intimately. He was betrayed, beaten, mocked, and crucified. He wept at a friend’s grave. He sweat blood in a garden in agony. The Man of Sorrows is not unfamiliar with your pain.
But Doesn’t Isaiah 53:5 Promise Healing?
Yes—and it’s a breathtaking promise:
“By His wounds we are healed.”— Isaiah 53:5
But what kind of healing is Isaiah talking about?
Let’s read the whole verse:
“He was pierced for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on Him,
and by His wounds we are healed.”
The healing in Isaiah 53 is first and foremost spiritual. It’s about being made right with God—our guilt removed, our shame covered, our hearts restored. This isn’t to say God doesn’t heal physically. He does. But this verse isn’t a blanket guarantee of physical wellness in this life.
Peter echoes this in the New Testament:
“By His wounds you have been healed. For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”— 1 Peter 2:24–25
This is soul-deep healing. The kind that cancer can’t touch. The kind that depression can’t erase. The kind that death can’t undo.
Faith Isn’t a Formula
Sometimes we’re told that healing is just a matter of faith. That if we believe hard enough, pray long enough, claim the right promise, the miracle will come.
But that turns faith into a transaction—and God into a vending machine. That’s not biblical faith. True faith isn’t about getting what we want. It’s about trusting who God is, no matter what.
Even Paul, who saw miracles firsthand, wasn’t spared suffering. He prayed for a “thorn in the flesh” to be taken away—and God said no. His explanation to Paul was:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”— 2 Corinthians 12:9
And even Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane, prayed:
“Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”— Luke 22:42
Faith is not the absence of struggle. It’s the presence of surrender.
Healing Is Promised—In Eternity
So where’s the healing? Where’s the redemption? Where’s the peace we long for?
It’s coming.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…”— Revelation 21:4
This is the unshakeable hope of every believer: eternal healing. Whole bodies. Whole hearts. Whole relationships. A new heaven. A new earth. And Jesus at the center of it all.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”— Romans 8:18
This doesn’t minimize your pain. It puts it in perspective. The brokenness we experience now is real—but it’s not forever.
Until Then, We Groan With Hope
“Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day… So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen…”— 2 Corinthians 4:16–18
We live in the tension of the “already and not yet.” Jesus has already conquered sin and death, but we haven’t yet seen the full unfolding of that victory. And so we wait. We trust. We groan with hope.
And we hold space for each other in the waiting.
What This Means for Us Today
Pray for healing—boldly, faithfully. God still heals.
Trust God’s heart, even when you don’t understand His hand.
Walk with others in their pain. Your presence matters.
Anchor your hope not in what God might do today, but in what He has already promised and accomplished forever.
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