A review by Daisy J. Serrano, Library Member and Contributor

What do you do when you are faced with sickness and suffering? Does God continue to heal us today? How do we know God is healing us? Are special people and/or a special process necessary to heal us? Why doesn’t God heal the sick people in my church? An intriguing question on everyone’s mind is whether God continues to heal today. This book answers this question and more. Yes, God can and does heal. But not everyone is healed miraculously, even though we faithfully pray for it. Sala provides an overview of how God brings healing. He goes through the Bible, reviewing the accounts of God healing and providing Scriptures, which affirm God’s power and purpose in healing. He looks at the healing acts of Jesus and those recorded by the early church fathers. Does God heal everyone? God brings healing in different ways as part of His sovereign will to treat you as an individual. Sometimes, He brings instantaneous supernatural healing. There are times He uses the hands of skilled physicians. God may also bring healing though a combination of medical science and His grace in response to fervent prayers in faith. There are also occasions when God allows suffering. It is apparent, Sala writes, “that supernatural healing is not the way God intends to answer all our prayers to be healed.” He looks at Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” as pain, weakness and grace. The taste of His presence and goodness transforms pain to purpose. Sala calls this redemptive healing. He explains what the suffering person should do to turn pain and suffering into redemptive healing. Real life accounts of miraculous healings are found throughout the book: healings that are instantaneous, healings that have taken place over periods of time, and instances where healings, as we consider it, did not take place at all. And yet, through it all, “God was there and he was not silent” (Francis Schaeffer). Sala discusses healing as it occurred in the Old and New Testament, in the days after the New Testament, and in the modern times today. He addresses why believers are hesitant to believe God heals today. He also describes the misuse of the gift of healing. Anecdotes of the different ways God may manifest His healing in a person’s life are shared to demonstrate His sovereignty: immediate/ supernatural healing, integrative healing (healing through a physician), redemptive healing (spiritual blessing in the midst of pain) and ultimate healing (through death). God may heal through a combination of medical science and His grace in response to fervent prayer. We may not fully understand the outcomes of healing but God’s character and attributes remain unchanged, even when a man suffers pain. We are reminded that the Great Physician remains compassionate and loving to each one of us, especially when we are hurting. Highly recommended.