When He doesn't say the word

Jesus has authority over creation such that matter and energy literally obey Him. It seems like Matthew goes to some lengths to establish that.

Jesus' authority over creation raises some questions, though. Like, if He can say the word and healing happens, why does so little healing seem to happen quickly? So many times, He seems to wait forever to say the word. Why?

There are some good answers and some bad answers, I think.

Bad answer 1: Jesus doesn't care anymore.

Jesus does care. He knows what it's like (Heb. 2:17; 4:15; 5:2). Compassion moved Him (Matt. 9:36; 14:14; Mark 1:41).

Bad answer 2: The Holy Spirit can't heal physically like Jesus could.

Healing didn't stop when Jesus ascended to heaven. He still has authority to heal (Acts 3:6-7). Jesus wasn't kidding when He said that it was better for the Holy Spirit to come than for Jesus to stay (John 16:7). Jesus didn't ascend because He was tired of earth—it's His earth. He ascended so the renovation of God's earth would continue according to His excellent plan.

Why doesn't God always heal?

There are more good reasons than I know, but here is at least one of them:

Good answer 1: God does not force anyone to trust Him. 

If God just wanted the world to be renovated, presto, there are more efficient paths I would expect Him to take. All the people who rebel against Him—just obliterate them, boom, done. All the pollution, corruption, ugly architecture—one word, the world's fixed. Man, just rewire all the humans and take away free will—done.

He hasn't done that. Even when He sent the flood, He did not reset human nature (or nature nature, for that matter).

Jesus performed miracles in several cities, but the people didn't repent. He said if He had done those same miracles in Sodom, Tyre and Sidon, those infamous cities would have repented (Matt. 11:20-24).

One way to look at that is to say, "Wow, those cities composed of the 'people of God' resisted Him more than the worst sinners of the Old Testament."

Another way to look at it, though is to say, "Wow, Jesus knew what it would take to get the most infamous cities of the Old Testament to repent, and He did not do it."

That makes me think that God doesn't force anyone to trust in Him. 

He knows how, of course He does, He made these people, He knows what would blow their breakers. His goals must not involve obedient robots. Therefore, the goal must involve people able to make choices, even able to resist Him.

His goal for a renovated heaven and earth and me and you involves us having free will. His goal for a renovated heaven and earth is for me and you to rule under Him, actually, like Adam and Eve were designed to. Our capabilities for initiative and creativity are not an accident—those are the gifts of coregents. 

He could come up with anything I could come up with, of course. That's not the point. The point isn't cool stuff. It's people (God is a person and you are too) working together, showing love for one another by using skills and talents to make and do things that please each other. 

That has been the foundation of reality since before Creation. The persons of the Trinity have loved one another from eternity.

So God sometimes doesn't heal because He doesn't want to force me to trust Him?

At most, that's just part of it. There are other reasons too. 

This post is poor comfort. If you are waiting for His healing right now, this will not be satisfying. It doesn't come close to dealing with the breadth of the ways suffering has affected me and you.

When you're suffering, though, you don't really want reasons, do you? 

When they break up with you, do you really want to hear why? Only if it gives you hope of mending your ways, of escaping the pain of the breakup, right? You don't want the reasons. You want to avoid some pain.

Of course you do. I do too.

There's more good reasons. I hope I'll get around to writing about some of them. But they'll be poor comfort too, just a heads-up. None of us gets to think our way out of pain. 

We walk through it—and so many times, sooner than you think, we find healing as we walk, too. The Healer walks with us.