After reading many of the posts from June (sorry, I don't have time to get through 44 pages today), I have a couple of thoughts. I hope I'm not repeating anything said previously, nor firing at shadows with this post.
I sense that many people, in an effort to defend God's goodness, try to move the responsibility for infirmity from God to Satan. If you are a person who would say, "Yes, the power to make ill is Satan's alone, or Satan is the agent in every affliction" I would like to throw out a few passages for consideration
1. Numbers 11:31-35 ~ God "strikes" the people with a plague.
2. II Chronicles 26:16-21 ~ King Uzziah was "smitten" by God.
3. Acts 5:1-11 ~ May seem obscure, but Peter's tone (particularly v. 10) implies that both Ananais and Sapphira are receiving the judgement of God.
Just for kicks, on the topic of healing, I'd like to propose an idea I get from the book of Mark (again, I hope this is not a repeat). In the first two chapters, we see that Jesus' teaching/words have power along three major axes: 1) Casting out of demons (1:22-27), 2) Healing of physical illnesses (1:29-34), and 3) Forgiveness of sins (2:1-12).
Of the three, I would argue that #3, forgiveness of sins, is the primary focus of Jesus' ministry, and #1 and #2 are penultimate. This is based on Mark 1:33-38. On the night of the Sabbath, Jesus heals many of the sick in the city. In the morning, he takes off to pray, and when told that more people are looking for him (I would argue it is not the "many" just mentioned), what does Jesus say? "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for" (1:38).
There's an interesting healing story in John 5:1-9. I'm curious how y'all interpret this one?
As for faith, I've recently been thinking about whether faith is binary (have or have not) or gray (20%,40%, etc.). It occurred to me recently when reading Luke 17:5-6, that faith seems to be of the former variety. When the disciples ask Jesus to "increase [their] faith," that sounds like the latter variety, but Jesus says that size doesn't matter (not a reference to middle school jokes), and seems to make a logical step that even if size mattered, the smallest amount of faith would lead to miraculous occurrences.
Anyway, just some thoughts. I'm sure everyone's heard them before... But, on the off chance that someone hasn't, I hope you can love God for His justice, His compassion, and His wonderful promises!
/p