God Often Brings People to the End of Themselves Before Full Deliverance and Healing
By Pastor Joel – Open Heaven Christian Church – Fisher, Arkansas
When God Allows the Struggle
One of the hardest truths for many people to understand is that God does not always remove suffering immediately. Many believers cry out for healing, freedom, breakthrough, and deliverance, yet their situation continues. They pray, fast, seek counsel, and ask God why their miracle of healing and restoration in their life has not come.
While every situation is different, Scripture reveals a pattern that often appears throughout God’s dealings with mankind. Before God brings complete deliverance, He frequently brings people to the end of themselves. He allows them to see that their own strength, wisdom, methods, and hidden idols cannot save them. Only then are they prepared to fully trust Him.
Many people desire God’s healing while still holding on to things that God has commanded them to abandon. Some continue participating in practices such as consulting psychics, fortune tellers, palm readers, mediums, astrology, burning sage for spiritual cleansing, using crystals for spiritual power, seeking guidance from soothsayers, or engaging in other forms of occult practices. Others place their trust in money, relationships, careers, reputation, or worldly solutions above God.
The Lord desires complete surrender, not partial surrender.
God Forbids Witchcraft and Occult Practices
The Bible repeatedly warns against every form of occult involvement.
Deuteronomy 18:10-12 (KJV)
“There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,
Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD…”
God does not distinguish between “harmless” witchcraft and “serious” witchcraft. Whether someone consults a medium, reads horoscopes for guidance, seeks psychic readings, practices divination, or attempts spiritual cleansing through occult methods, God condemns these activities because they seek spiritual power apart from Him.
Christians Are Not Exempt
Many people assume that because they identify as Christians, these warnings do not apply to them. However, Scripture teaches otherwise.
Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV)
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; …Idolatry, witchcraft… and such like: of the which I tell you before… that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”
The Apostle Paul was writing to people associated with the church. His warning was serious. A profession of faith does not grant permission to continue practicing sins that God has clearly forbidden. Genuine repentance requires turning away from those things.
Naaman Had to Humble Himself Before Healing Came
One of the clearest examples is found in 2 Kings 5:1-14.
Naaman was a mighty military commander afflicted with leprosy. He wanted healing, but he also wanted healing on his own terms. When the prophet Elisha instructed him to wash seven times in the Jordan River, Naaman became angry.
He expected God to heal him in a way that honored his pride.
Only when Naaman humbled himself and obeyed God’s instructions did his healing come.
2 Kings 5:14 (KJV)
“Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
God brought Naaman to the end of his pride before bringing his healing.
God will allow people to come to the end of themselves before bringing full deliverance and healing. Many desire freedom while still clinging to the very sins that keep them in bondage. When they repent, cut off those sinful attachments, and surrender to God’s will, they position themselves to receive the freedom and restoration He desires to give them.
The Woman with the Issue of Blood Reached the End of Human Solutions
For twelve years, a woman suffered from a debilitating disease.
Mark 5:25-26 (KJV)
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse.”
She exhausted every earthly solution available to her.
Only after reaching the end of herself did she come completely to Jesus.
The Bible says, “For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole” (Mark 5:28, KJV). In other words, after years of suffering and seeking help elsewhere, she came to the place where her hope was fully placed in Jesus Christ. Having exhausted every other option, she believed that He alone had the power to heal her, and by faith she reached out and received the healing she had long desired.
When she had exhausted all other possibilities and placed her trust completely in the Lord, she received her healing. Afterward, Jesus spoke these words to her:
Mark 5:34 (KJV)
“Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
King Manasseh Was Restored Only After Humbling Himself
King Manasseh was deeply involved in witchcraft, idolatry, and occult practices.
2 Chronicles 33:6 (KJV)
“And he caused his children to pass through the fire… also he observed times, and used enchantments, and used witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit, and with wizards…”
For years he rebelled against God.
Eventually God allowed him to be taken captive.
Only after reaching the lowest point of his life did he finally repent.
2 Chronicles 33:12-13 (KJV)
“And when he was in affliction, he besought the LORD his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers,
And prayed unto him…”
After genuine repentance, God restored him.
His deliverance came after brokenness and surrender to God.
The Prodigal Son Came to Himself
Jesus illustrated this principle in Luke 15:11-24.
The prodigal son demanded his inheritance and wasted everything in sinful living. He eventually found himself feeding pigs and starving.
Only then did he come to his senses.
Luke 15:17 (KJV)
“And when he came to himself…”
Sometimes God allows people to experience the consequences of their choices until they recognize their need for Him.
The father welcomed the son back, but only after the son abandoned his rebellion and returned home.
Israel Often Refused God Until Affliction Came
Throughout the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly turned to idols and false gods.
God would send prophets, warnings, and correction. Yet they often refused to listen.
Only after experiencing oppression, captivity, or hardship would they cry out to God.
Judges 10:13-16 (KJV) records one example where Israel forsook God and served other gods. When affliction came, they finally put away their strange gods and returned to the Lord.
Their deliverance followed repentance.
Why God Sometimes Delays Deliverance
God’s purpose is not merely to remove symptoms. His goal is transformation.
Many people want freedom from consequences while continuing the behavior that brought spiritual bondage into their lives.
God desires:
Repentance before restoration.
Surrender before breakthrough.
Humility before exaltation.
Faith before manifestation.
Holiness before blessing.
The Lord knows that healing without repentance often results in a person returning to the very things that harmed them spiritually.
What Must Be Let Go?
Many people seeking healing and deliverance should honestly examine whether they are holding onto things that God has forbidden.
Examples include:
Consulting psychics or mediums.
Palm reading.
Tarot cards.
Astrology for guidance.
Burning sage for spiritual cleansing.
Crystal-based spiritual practices.
New Age spirituality.
Divination.
Sorcery and witchcraft.
Idolatry.
Unforgiveness.
Persistent rebellion against God’s Word.
Pride and self-reliance.
Deliverance often begins when these things are completely renounced and abandoned.
The Path to Freedom
Scripture consistently reveals a pattern:
Conviction.
Repentance.
Humility.
Faith.
Deliverance.
Restoration.
God is merciful, loving, and compassionate. He desires to heal, restore, and deliver His people. However, He will not share His throne with idols. He often allows people to reach the end of themselves so they will discover that Jesus Christ alone is their Deliverer.
When a person finally surrenders every hidden idol, every occult practice, every source of false security, and every area of rebellion, they position themselves to receive what God has desired to give them all along.
True freedom begins when Christ becomes enough.
James 4:10 (KJV)
“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
Conclusion: God Does Not Want People Returning to Their Vomit
One of the reasons God often allows people to come to the end of their rope before bringing complete deliverance is because He is not merely interested in changing a person’s circumstances—He is interested in changing the person. God knows that if He grants deliverance without true repentance, many people will return to the very sins, idols, and practices that brought them into bondage in the first place.
The Lord desires lasting freedom, not temporary relief.
Scripture warns about the danger of returning to old ways after receiving knowledge of the truth.
2 Peter 2:22 (KJV)
“But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
This vivid picture illustrates a tragic spiritual reality. Just as a dog returns to what made it sick, many people return to the very sins and practices from which God delivered them. They cry out for freedom during times of suffering, but once the pressure is removed, they drift back into the same compromises, the same idols, and the same rebellion.
Because God loves His people, He often allows them to reach a place where they finally realize that nothing outside of Him can truly satisfy, heal, or save them. He allows human strength to fail. He allows worldly solutions to run dry. He allows false refuges to collapse. Not because He delights in suffering, but because He desires genuine transformation.
When a person reaches the end of themselves, they are often finally prepared to surrender completely. Their trust is no longer in psychics, soothsayers, witchcraft, idols, human wisdom, or self-reliance. Their trust becomes fixed upon Christ alone.
God’s goal is not simply to remove pain; His goal is to establish a heart that remains faithful after the miracle comes. A healing that is followed by rebellion accomplishes little. A deliverance that leads a person back into bondage is not God’s highest purpose. The Lord desires to bring His children into a place of lasting obedience, lasting faith, and lasting freedom.
Therefore, when God delays deliverance, it is often because He is working on something deeper than the outward problem. He is uprooting the very things that would cause a person to return to their spiritual vomit. He is teaching them that He alone is the source of life, peace, healing, and salvation.
When repentance is complete and surrender is genuine, God often reveals that what seemed like a delay was actually His mercy. He was not withholding freedom—He was preparing the heart to walk in that freedom and never look back.
Luke 9:61-62
“61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”