When God Doesn't Heal: Life Wasn't Supposed to be Like This

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Susan Litchford's perspective on suffering will challenge everything you think you know about healing and faith. After 37 years of living with rheumatoid arthritis, she offers wisdom that stands in stark contrast to popular prosperity-focused teachings: what if your unhealed condition is actually a profound spiritual opportunity?
Susan takes us back to the moment everything changed for her. Trapped in a church balcony, overwhelmed by physical pain, she heard a message about the potter who applies "pressure on the outside and pressure on the inside" until he creates a vessel he can use. This revelation from Jeremiah 18 didn't end her suffering, but it broke affliction's power over her mind and heart. While she has experienced partial healing—her crippled hands straightened through prayer and her twisted arm partially restored—she focuses not on what remains unhealed but on how God uses her circumstances.
The conversation delves into Satan's three primary tactics: bitterness (hungering for what we feel entitled to), jealousy (compromising to obtain what others have), and disappointment (testing God by treating Him like a vending machine). Susan counters these deceptions with profound metaphors, comparing our spiritual refinement to a silversmith purifying precious metal until he sees his own reflection in it. "Power is not in what I perceive as my perfect life," she explains. "Power is standing firm in the truth that God is making me a pot He can use."
This episode offers a refreshing counterbalance to contemporary Christian culture that often emphasizes instantaneous healing as the primary evidence of God's faithfulness. Whether you're struggling with chronic illness, emotional wounds, or unanswered prayers, Susan's testimony provides a framework for finding purpose in pain and victory in unwanted circumstances. Subscribe now to hear the conclusion of Susan's story in our next episode, where she'll share more personal experiences and wisdom about living on divine assignment despite physical limitations.

Chapters

1. Episode Introduction: Healing vs. Unhealed (00:00:00)

2. Susan's Story of Pain and Affliction (00:03:29)

3. The Potter's Wheel Revelation (00:09:25)

4. Trusting God Through Affliction (00:14:10)

5. Satan's Three Tactics: Bitterness, Jealousy, Disappointment (00:18:58)

6. Refined Like Silver: Becoming God's Vessel (00:28:57)

7. Closing Thoughts and Next Episode Preview (00:32:35)