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July 15, 2026

When Healing Doesn't Come

July 15, 2026 by JESSICA JOLLEY RELIANCE Grief, loss, & depression Health issues on the field Infertility Dependence
When Healing Doesn't Come
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’”
2 Corinthians 12:9

Three years ago, I began having chronic migraines–the kind of chronic that would last for weeks on end. I would gather with friends, those I was discipling/mobilizing, and my own family with what felt like needles in my forehead, nausea flooding my system all while trying to stay focused on the precious soul in front of me. But I felt like my own soul was floundering, wondering what in the world was the purpose in this?


Through countless hospital visits and various medications, I have found some relief from this previously ever-present painful companion, but the headaches still plague me every other day.


Many of us also live in cultures and countries where poverty, loss, and grief are simply a part of life. What do we do when our world and our own hearts ache so deeply and healing or deliverance does not come this side of heaven?


I have asked the Lord time and again to take this particular cup from me. And though I don’t know the reason His answer is no, at least for now, I have desperately clung to the well-known truth that Paul is given by our Savior when he too asks for the thorn in his flesh to be taken away (2 Corinthians 12:8). Jesus’ answer is a verse we have all heard countless times, but one we need as a constant reminder—that “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9a). We do not know what this particular thorn in the flesh was for Paul. But we are given the insight of Christ’s response pointing Paul back to Himself in the middle of the apostle’s continuing struggles.


Paul concludes with an outpouring of deep faith and trust. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 9b-10).


Oh dear friend, whatever you are facing, may you run back to the power of Christ, whose grace is truly sufficient no matter what you are met with. Keep praying for healing, while also trusting He is right there with you even if He does not. He loves you no matter His answer.

Closing Prayer
Oh Lord, none of us are immune to suffering, especially in the contexts in which many of us live. We all face suffering in various ways, and many of us have not experienced healing. Will you meet our cries with your grace? Will you remind us that our weaknesses point us back to our dependence on you? And will you show us that even if your answer is “no” or “not yet,” that you love us fiercely. Give us the strength to somehow delight even in the midst of our weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, or difficulties, because that is when your power is made perfect in us. You are worthy, our Good Shepherd. Amen.
Resources
Book: Every Bitter Thing Is Sweet: Tasting the Goodness of God in All Things by Sara Hagerty I love anything by Sara Hagerty, and she writes so well from a place of both vulnerability concerning her own infertility and various struggles while also pointing us back to the truth and peace found in Christ alone. This book is an excellent resource if you’re looking for a heartfelt response to wrestling with the Lord in your suffering.
Question for Reflection

This is a hard topic for us to grapple with. But it also reveals where our hearts may not be fully submitted to trusting God’s infinite wisdom and ways. Can we bravely ask ourselves, do we trust that God is good even if His answer is different from what we desire? Where in our lives can we grow in seeking this deeper trust in the Lord and His goodness, even if we are not given the healing we seek?

Comments
Jessica Jolley
July 15, 2026

I am so quick to want to know the answer as to why, or to what purpose, is this suffering? Most of us, however, will not receive that particular answer. Instead I have been training my heart to run back to God’s character and trusting him above all, rather than my circumstances. I don’t understand much of the suffering in the world, but it does cause me to run to him with my questions and heartaches, while also longing for heaven as well. But until then, I want to be a part of proclaiming God’s goodness to a lost and broken world in the midst of all of our sufferings.