Despite the fact that, according to the Bible, none of us is exempt from pain and suffering, we strive to live healthy lifestyles in hopes of somehow warding off future chronic, debilitating or even fatal ailments. In Will God Heal Me?, pastor and author Ron Dunn explores misconceptions about chronic suffering and illness from a biblical perspective, to guide the reader to a better understanding – even in times of suffering – of God’s sovereignty and the love He has for us.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. —Ephesians 3:20-21, KJV

In the chapters of this book, Dunn addresses questions such as:

• Why does God seem to choose to heal some people, or cure some illnesses, but not others?
• Why does suffering continue even though we pray, have faith, believe in – and live by – God’s word?
• Will God heal my family member? Will I be healed?
• Why doesn’t God use his power and take away suffering?
• What can be lost through – or gained by – my suffering?
• Is God in control?
• What, exactly, is healing and do I have a right to be healed?                                             

Dunn discusses the losses one experiences through suffering. There is loss of control over your own body and your day-to-day activities. Dunn likens the experience to driving a car along a slick road and losing control. Nothing you do works to get you back on the road, you just spin helplessly, wondering if you will crash. 

Suffering means, for many, a loss of identity; gray space between who you are and what you are suffering. You become – to others – a patient, a number, a case, a sick friend. We become our diagnosis, Dunn explains, with only a few words from the doctor, a mom with MS, that salesman who has cancer. 

With illness, there is a loss of certainty (or what you thought was certainty), Dunn says, and the loss of one’s place in society. Upon returning to the workplace after an illness, Dunn writes, many people experience a difference in their relationships with some of their coworkers.

Dunn also discusses what can be gained from suffering. Renewal is at the top of the list; a renewed value of life. In short, Dunn writes, you answer the question, “Is what I have been living for, worth dying for?” 

“Renewal often means a new appreciation for God’s Word and His grace,” Dunn says. ”Along with a higher regard for one’s friends and time spent in fellowship.”

Author / editor of HopeKeepers Magazine and founder of Rest Ministries, Inc., Lisa Copen, has this to say about Dunn’s encouraging work:

I’ve found this book to be one of the very best ones in helping readers understand, accept, and even embrace the suffering and chronic illness they experience in their life that is also based on biblical truth and not skewed interpretations of it. Dunn nails the topic of illness and suffering and all that goes along with it – such as coping with the social stigma and learning how to interpret scripture on the subject of healing – with integrity, compassion and the personal experience as one who has been there, adding, If I had just one book I could give everyone with a chronic illness, this book – Will God Heal Me? God’s Power and Purpose in Suffering – would be it!

Dunn’s website gives a little background in understanding his take on life … 

Before his death June 29, 2001, at the age of 64, due to Pulmonary Fibrosis, Ronald Dunn had an extensive itinerate ministry of Bible teaching and preaching and served as the Minister-at-Large for the MacArthur Blvd. Baptist Church in Irving [TX]. He was also the president of LifeStyle Ministries, an organization that produces Bible study cassettes, which he founded in 1970. He preached Bible Conferences all over the United States, Europe, Australia, Canada, Central America, South Africa and the Caribbean Islands.