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Satan challenged Job’s faithfulness, accusing God of favoring him by protecting his loved ones and all he had. God permitted him to come against Job, but he could not take his life. Job’s response upon hearing of the death of all his children in one tragic event: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21b). When God let Satan cover his body with painful boils, his wife told him to curse God and die, but he would not. Job didn’t understand the reason for his sufferings but trusted God. After proving Job’s faithfulness to Satan, God healed and blessed him with more than he had in the beginning (42:12).

Naaman was angry when he heard that God would heal him of leprosy only if he dipped not once but seven times in the muddy Jordan River. Pride almost kept him from his miracle, but he succumbed to the prophet’s instructions, and God immediately healed him (2 Kings 5:1–14).

A woman spent all she had seeking a cure for the ailment that plagued her for twelve years. When she heard of Jesus, the miracle worker, and that He was speaking nearby, she stealthily pushed her way through the crowd. Standing behind Him, she touched His robe, thinking that healing would be hers; immediately, she felt the plague was gone. She admitted to Jesus what she did, and He said: “. . . Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace and be whole of thy plague” (Mark 5:34).

Jesus met a woman who came to draw water from the well at noontime and asked her for a cup of water. During their conversation, Jesus, a stranger to her, told her all the sordid details of her life. He then offered her living water, and she would never thirst again. Revealing that He was the long-awaited Messiah, the woman ran into the city and told the men what had happened at the well, saying, “Is not this the Christ” (John 4:29)? She believed, and because of her testimony, many more believed.

Jesus walked by a man blind from birth. The disciples asked if his condition was due to his sins or his parents. Jesus said neither; it was divine providence that “the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). His blindness was the instrument of his salvation: Jesus spat on the ground, made clay, and anointed the man’s eyes, telling him to go and wash in the pool of Siloam. He did and came back seeing. Jesus introduced Himself to the healed man as the Son of God; the man believed and worshipped Him (vs. 35–38).

Paul suffered an affliction. He prayed once, twice, asking the Lord to take it away, and no answer came. But the third time he asked, the Lord answered, saying His grace would be sufficient. Healing would not come; Paul’s weakened condition, described as “a thorn in the flesh,” would serve a purpose (2 Corinthians 12:7–10)—God would exhibit His power in His apostle’s lack of strength. Paul bent His will to His Father’s will. God does not confine Himself to a formula or pattern but heals and rescues according to His design, purposes, and timing. Don’t be upset when He doesn’t heal the way you thought He should; no one can box God in, creating patterns for deliverance. Sometimes, relief doesn’t happen until we meet Him face-to-face. We may not understand our current circumstances but like Paul, yield to God’s will and, like Job, trust God and say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.”