John 9:1-3 "As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.” This verse is a powerful reminder that if we are sick, it is not because God is punishing us for something. God is not the creator of illness. It also shows us that even though God did not make us sick, he can use our sickness for our good. Music: "Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Come As You Are Series - Your Sin Did Not Cause Your Illness
John 9:1-3 "As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him.”
Another reason we might struggle to come to the Lord is that we think our sickness is somehow a punishment for something that we did. We were awful teenagers, so God is repaying us with this chronic pain that we have. We think that our sins from the past are catching up to us, and that is why we got cancer or why our child is sick now, why our loved one is sick. If we look to the Bible, Jesus addresses this for us in today’s verse.
You are not sick because of your sins or because God is punishing you? What if you are sick so that God’s works might be revealed in you? What if God is going to use this illness for something amazing? God did not cause you to be sick. God does not cause illness. God is a healer, it says so in Exodus 15:26, which says, “He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” However, God can use your illness for all kinds of reasons.
I heard a story in a book written by Heidi Baker and her husband. They were trying to heal a man from the Middle East. I can’t remember where exactly she said he was from. Her friends asked them to come because they had had great success in praying over people and having them be healed. The man whom they were praying for was muslim, and so were all of his family members. Heidi and her husband thought that the man would be healed when they prayed over him, and it would be a lot of Glory for God because all those in the room would see him healed and know it was God who did it. They prayed and they prayed, but the man was not healed. They had a trip planned, so they had to leave. However, when they got back, they heard that the man was still alive. They went to visit him, and this time he had twice as many people to visit him because they were sure he was going to die. So all his relatives came, even those from out of town. Their friends asked them to come and pray one more time. So then they prayed over him again, and this time he was healed, and all of his family members became Christians. God used his illness, and he healed him, but he healed him in his timing, not our timing, not like when we thought he would have healed him. And so the same can be true for us.
Another saint who had to deal with a lot of illness was St. Teresa of Lisieux, who is another doctor of the church. And yet she died at age 24. She had tuberculosis. Again, she was very dedicated to the Lord. She loved Jesus. She spent so much time in prayer, and she really wanted to be a missionary. That was her goal. That was her dream for how she thought God would use her to take her all over the world to spread the love of God. And yet she never got to go anywhere because she was so sickly.
And yet she is the patron saint of missionaries because she prayed for all the missionaries who were there. And her writings and her work are now spread throughout the whole church. So even though she wasn't able to go herself and spread the word, God used her, even with her illness, to become a doctor of the church and to spread the word of the Lord.
I just want to encourage all of you that if you're thinking that you can't come to the Lord because you have too much sin, or you're thinking you're sick because of something you did, or you're thinking that God can't use you because of what you've done or because of your illness, I just want to assure you that none of that is true. You're not sick because of your sins. You're not counted out because of anything you've done. God still wants to use you. And all the sins or the illness that you feel have discounted you, God could use them for good. Don’t give up on your hopes and dreams. Don’t let anyone tell you they won’t happen. You have a miraculous God who can make anything happen. Just keep bringing it to the Lord! Just keep coming to the Lord, and He will be there for you!
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to the episode. Lord, you are the almighty one. I ask that you help us realize we are not the cause of our illness. I ask you to help us know that you are not punishing us. Our illness is not from you and is not because of our actions. Help us to know how loved and wanted we are, just as we are. Help us to know how much you truly love us! We love you, Lord, and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’s holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I am sorry I didn’t bring you an episode at the beginning of this week. I was in Ecuador. I got back very late Tuesday night. I look forward to sharing about the trip with you next Wednesday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed day!
Today’s Word from the Lord was received in June 2025 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today’s Word from the Lord is, “Build up, prepare the way. Remove the stumbling blocks from my people's path. For thus says He who is high and exalted, living eternally, whose name is the Holy One, on high. Indwell in holiness, and with the crushed and the dejected in spirit, to revive the spirits of the dejected, to revive the hearts of the crushed.”