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A straightforward answer to that question is that it is not always God’s will to heal everyone. God is free to heal whomever he wants. For example, when Jesus was at the pool at Sheep Gate (John 5:2-9), there were multitudes of invalids, lame, blind and paralyzed. Yet Jesus only chose to heal one man there. It was not Jesus’ will to heal the rest.

There is a tendency in some Christian circles to say that it is always God’s will to heal, but this is not always the case. Just because God sometimes brings healing to some people it does not mean that sickness is never God’s will. Matt 10:29 tells us that not even a sparrow can fall to the ground without God willing it. But sparrows do fall to the ground.

There are numerous reasons why this is the case, but I will just give four major ones.

One reason why God does not heal all the time is that sometimes it brings him more glory not to heal.

Since all things are created according to the will of God and the work together to accomplish the purposes of God in bringing himself glory (Eph 1:11), it logically follows that the reason why God doesn’t heal some is that it is not his will. To this end, no one suffers apart from God willing it. No one can fall sick or gets healed (through supernatural or natural means) apart from God willing it.

Another reason why God does not heal all the time (as already shown) is that sickness can sometimes be a judgment of God upon nations.

For example, in Deuteronomy 28:58-61, we read that, “If you are not careful to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, the LORD your God, then the LORD will bring on you and your offspring extraordinary afflictions, afflictions severe and lasting, and sicknesses grievous and lasting. And he will bring upon you again all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness also and every affliction that is not recorded in the book of this law, the LORD will bring upon you, until you are destroyed.” We also remember the sickness and death God brought on Egypt at the time of the exodus.

Another reason why God does not heal all sickness is that it is not God’s timing.

When Jesus died on the cross, part of his substitutionary sacrifice included that of physical healing (Matt 8:16-17). When Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, he defeated death on our behalf, and took our infirmities upon himself. However, this does not mean that all of God’s blessings on the cross is applied to us immediately. Some of the blessings of the cross such as justification are applied instantaneously to a believer at conversion, while others such as Sanctification, are not entirely “completed” while the believer is still alive. Healing is like sanctification in the sense that it is not completed in this life. There will come a day when God will get rid of all sickness, tears and suffering, but for now, death still exist in this world. To the believer, death has lost its sting because he will rise again and will not experience the second death. (Rev 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8).

Another reason why God doesn’t heal all the time is that the sickness is sometimes used to train and discipline those he love.

God sometimes does not heal because suffering (both physical and non-physical) can bring about perseverance and push us towards greater Christian living. Just as human fathers lovingly discipline their children, God disciplines those he loves so that they will be conformed into his image more and more each day (Heb 12:5-6,8; Psalm 119:67,71,75).  This discipline does not necessarily mean that the one being disciplined is living in sin. Just as a coach disciplines those who train under him so that they can continue to progress as stronger athletes, God often uses suffering and sickness to train his children to be even deeper in their walk with him. In 2 Cor 12:7, we read that Paul was given a “Thorn in the Flesh” to keep him from being conceited.