Mercy Looks Different

In every kind of sickness, God's mercy looks different.
But it's still mercy.

When you've prayed for healing and nothing changes, where do you find hope? When the diagnosis stays the same, the pain persists, the waiting stretches longer than you thought you could bear—what does God's compassion look like then?

Scripture shows us four people who faced serious illness. Each one experienced God's mercy, but mercy didn't look the same for any of them. One was healed after nearly dying. One was left sick and never recovered. One suffered for eighteen years before being freed. One was given fifteen more years, only to discover that healing brought its own test.

Four different stories. Four different outcomes. All mercy.

Discover which story speaks to yours.

❤️ ⏳ ⛓️‍💥 👑

Four Stories of Mercy

Each story reveals a different face of God's compassion.
Read through them slowly. Let them speak.

❤️

Epaphroditus

Philippians 2:25-27

Sick unto death, then healed

A faithful servant who became gravely ill while serving. Paul feared losing him. God showed mercy by restoring him to health—not just for his sake, but for Paul's sake too. Sometimes mercy looks like being spared.

Read the full story →

The Story

Epaphroditus was Paul's trusted co-worker—dedicated, dependable, deeply loved. The Philippians sent him to minister to Paul's needs. While serving, he fell seriously ill and nearly died. News of his illness spread, and he was distressed that people were worrying about him. Paul writes that God had mercy on him "lest I should have grief on grief."

Scripture (KJ3)

25But I thought it needful to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellowworker, and my fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister of my need,

26since he was longing after you all and being distressed because you heard that he was sick.

27For indeed he was sick, coming near to death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him, but also me, lest I should have grief on grief.

— Philippians 2:25-27 (KJ3)

What Mercy Looked Like

  • Paul didn't minimize Epaphroditus' suffering or his own fear of loss—he acknowledged the reality that death was near.
  • God's mercy came through physical restoration, but notice how Paul frames it: the mercy was as much for Paul (preventing "grief on grief") as for Epaphroditus himself.
  • The healing was a gift, not a reward—Epaphroditus' faithful service didn't earn healing, but God gave it anyway.
  • Sometimes mercy means being spared so that others who love us are spared as well.

What This Reveals About God

  • God sees not just your suffering, but the suffering of those who love you.
  • God's mercy is often relational—it extends beyond the individual to a community.
  • God knows the weight of "grief on grief" and sometimes intervenes to prevent it.
  • Healing, when it comes, is an act of pure grace, not something we can command or deserve.

The Hidden Gift

When God grants healing, He's offering more than restored health—He's giving you a testimony of His mercy that can strengthen others who are still waiting. The gift isn't just in being healed, but in becoming someone who can sit with others in their suffering without offering empty promises, because you know what it means to nearly die.

Questions to Ponder

  • Can you receive healing without needing to earn it or explain why you received what others didn't?
  • Who in your life would experience grief if you weren't here? How does that shape your understanding of your life's value?
  • What does it mean that faithful service doesn't guarantee physical health? How do you hold this tension?
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Trophimus

2 Timothy 4:20

Left sick, never healed

Paul's trusted companion who remained ill. Despite Paul's ministry of healing others, he left his friend behind sick at Miletus. One short verse, full of truth: healing doesn't always come. Faith walks on anyway.

Read the full story →

The Story

Trophimus was Paul's co-laborer in the gospel, mentioned alongside him in Acts. But in Paul's final letter, we learn something sobering: Paul left him sick in Miletus. There's no explanation, no promise of future healing, no theological justification. Just the quiet acknowledgment: sometimes sickness remains.

Scripture (KJ3)

20Erastus remained in Corinth, but I left Trophimus sick in Miletus.

— 2 Timothy 4:20 (KJ3)

Paul's Perspective:

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

— 2 Corinthians 5:7

What Mercy Looked Like

  • Paul didn't command healing or explain it away—he simply acknowledged the reality and kept serving.
  • Trophimus remained faithful even when healing didn't come, showing that faith isn't contingent on physical restoration.
  • God's mercy wasn't in removing the sickness, but in sustaining Trophimus through it with dignity and purpose.
  • Sometimes mercy is found in trusting God's deeper purposes even when we don't understand them.

What This Reveals About God

  • God doesn't promise to remove every hardship, even from His most faithful servants.
  • God's purposes sometimes include suffering that He doesn't immediately explain.
  • God sustains in the waiting—Trophimus wasn't abandoned, just not yet healed.
  • God measures faithfulness by trust in His character, not by physical outcomes.

The Hidden Gift

When God doesn't heal immediately, He's creating space for a different kind of trust—one that doesn't need answers or outcomes to believe He is good. The gift is learning that your faith isn't built on getting what you want, but on knowing Who He is. This is the hardest gift to receive, but also the one that can sustain you through anything.

Questions to Ponder

  • Can you trust God's goodness even when He doesn't give you the healing you've prayed for?
  • What would it look like to "walk by faith, not by sight" in your specific situation?
  • If God never explains why you're still suffering, can your faith survive? What would that faith look like?
  • How do you respond to the tension that Paul healed others but left Trophimus sick?
⛓️‍💥

The Crippled Woman

Luke 13:10-17

Bound eighteen years, then freed

For eighteen years, this woman couldn't stand up straight. Bound by a spirit of infirmity, she still came to worship. Jesus saw her, called her "daughter of Abraham," and set her free. Her identity was secure even before the physical cure.

Read the full story →

The Story

For eighteen years, this woman couldn't stand up straight. Bound by a spirit of infirmity, she was bent together and could not straighten herself. Yet she still came to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Jesus saw her in the crowd, called her forward, and before He even touched her, He named her: "daughter of Abraham." Then He healed her, and she stood up straight for the first time in eighteen years.

Scripture (KJ3)

10And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on one of the sabbaths.

11And, behold, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent together and was not able to be erect to the complete straightness..

12And seeing her, Jesus called her near and said to her, Woman, you have been loosed from your infirmity.

13And He laid hands on her. And instantly she was made erect and glorified God.

14But answering, being angry that Jesus healed on the sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the crowd, There are six days in which it is right to work. Therefore, coming in these, be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

15Then the Lord answered him and said, Hypocrite! Each one of you on the sabbath, does he not loose his ox or ass from the manger, and leading it away, give it drink?

16And this one being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, behold, eighteen years, ought she not to be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

17And on His saying these things, all the ones opposing Him were ashamed. And all the crowd rejoiced over all the glorious things being done by Him.

— Luke 13:10-17 (KJ3)

What Mercy Looked Like

  • Jesus called her "daughter of Abraham" before healing her—her identity was secure even before physical restoration.
  • For eighteen years she kept coming to worship, showing that faithfulness can outlast physical strength.
  • Jesus saw her suffering as something that "ought not" to continue—He affirmed her dignity even in her bound state.
  • The healing was immediate when it came, but it came after years of waiting—both are part of mercy.

What This Reveals About God

  • God sees you even when others don't notice your pain—Jesus saw her in the crowd.
  • Your worth isn't determined by your physical condition—you are a "daughter" or "son" before you are healed.
  • God's timing is not abandonment—eighteen years of waiting didn't mean He wasn't present.
  • Liberation comes, but identity is secure even before deliverance.

The Hidden Gift

When suffering lasts for years, God is forming in you a kind of endurance that can't be built any other way. The woman's eighteen years weren't wasted—they taught her that worship isn't dependent on comfort, and that showing up matters even when you can barely stand. The gift is discovering that your faithfulness speaks louder than your physical condition ever could.

Questions to Ponder

  • Can you keep showing up to worship even when nothing changes physically?
  • How does it change your understanding to know Jesus saw your suffering as something that "ought not" to be—even if He hasn't yet removed it?
  • What would it mean to believe your identity as God's daughter or son is secure right now, before healing comes?
  • What does faithfulness look like when you can't stand up straight?
👑

King Hezekiah

2 Kings 20:1-11

Healed, then humbled

A king told he would die. He wept, prayed, and God granted him fifteen more years. But later, pride crept in—he forgot the mercy that spared him. God had to humble him again. Sometimes the test comes after the healing.

Read the full story →

The Story

Hezekiah was sick unto death. Isaiah the prophet came and told him to set his house in order. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, wept bitterly, and prayed. God heard his prayer and granted him fifteen more years. But later in those extra years, his heart became proud. He showed off his treasures to foreign envoys. God had to humble him again. The mercy that spared him also tested him.

Scripture (KJ3)

1In those days Hezekiah was sick to death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, So says Jehovah, Order your house, for you are dying, and shall not live.

2And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to Jehovah, saying,

3I pray, O Jehovah, please remember how I have walked always before Your face in truth, and with a perfect heart, and I have done the good in Your eyes. And Hezekiah wept with a great weeping.

4And it happened when Isaiah had not gone out to the middle court, the Word of Jehovah came to him, saying,

5Turn back, and you shall say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, So says Jehovah, the God of your father David, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you; you shall go up to the house of Jehovah the third day.

6And I have added fifteen years to your days; and I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and shall defend this city for My own sake, and for My servant David's sake.

7And Isaiah said, Take a cake of figs; and they took and laid it on the boil; and he recovered.

8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, What will be the sign that Jehovah will heal me, that I will go up on the third day to the house of Jehovah?

9And Isaiah said, This will be the sign to you from Jehovah, that Jehovah will do the thing that He has spoken: Shall the shadow go down ten steps, or shall it turn back ten steps?

10And Hezekiah said, It would be a light thing for the shadow to stretch out ten steps; no, but let the shadow turn back ten steps.

11And Isaiah the prophet cried to Jehovah; and He turned back the shadow by the steps that it had gone down on the sundial of Ahaz, ten steps backward.

— 2 Kings 20:1-11 (KJ3)

The Humbling (2 Chronicles 32:25-26):

25And Hezekiah did not return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart had been lifted up, and there was wrath on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.

26And Hezekiah was humbled for the pride of his heart, he and those living in Jerusalem, but the wrath of Jehovah did not come on them in the days of Hezekiah.

— 2 Chronicles 32:25-26 (KJ3)

What Mercy Looked Like

  • God heard Hezekiah's desperate prayer and saw his tears—raw emotion moved God's heart.
  • The healing was a gift of fifteen more years, but it came with an invitation: to live those years in gratitude.
  • When pride crept in, God's mercy included humbling—sometimes mercy looks like discipline.
  • God's mercy both spares and sanctifies—the goal wasn't just extended life, but a transformed heart.

What This Reveals About God

  • God hears desperate prayers and is moved by tears—He's not distant or unmoved.
  • God gives second chances, but they're meant to shape us, not just extend our comfort.
  • God will humble us if that's what it takes to keep us close to Him—His love is that committed.
  • Healing is an opportunity, not just a conclusion—what we do with the gift matters.

The Hidden Gift

When God grants more time, He's offering more than extended days—He's inviting deeper transformation. Healing creates opportunity for gratitude and humility, but it also tests us: will we remember where the mercy came from? The gift isn't just the extra years, but the chance to live them with a heart that remembers mercy and doesn't take it for granted.

Questions to Ponder

  • If God granted you healing, how would you guard against pride or entitlement?
  • Can you receive answered prayer as an invitation to transformation, not just relief?
  • Hezekiah's story shows that sometimes the test comes after the healing. How do you prepare for that?
  • If you received fifteen more years, what would you do differently? And why wait for healing to start living that way?

Which Story Resonates?

Select one or more stories that reflect your experience.
You'll explore each one in depth.

❤️
Epaphroditus
Healed after near death
⏳
Trophimus
Left sick, walking by faith
⛓️‍💥
Crippled Woman
Eighteen years bound, then freed
👑
Hezekiah
Healed and humbled

Can't decide? You can explore all four and see which speaks most clearly.

Explore Your Story

Dive deeper into what these stories reveal.

Your Mercy Story

You've explored how God's mercy showed up for .

What does mercy look like in your story—even if you're still living it?

This is what's happening

Describe your situation without minimizing or spiritualizing. What's the reality you're facing?

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Example: "I've had chronic pain for 7 years. Every morning I wake up wondering if today will be different, and every night I go to bed disappointed. I've tried everything—doctors, prayer, diet changes—and nothing has worked."

This is what I've asked for

What have you been praying for? What do you long to see God do?

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Example: "I've asked for healing. For one day without pain. For an answer to what's wrong. For the strength to just get through another week."

This is what God has given instead

Even if it's not what you asked for, what has God given? This might be hard to name—be honest.

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Examples: "He hasn't healed me, but He's given me a community that sits with me" • "Deeper compassion for others who suffer" • "Honestly, I don't know yet. I'm still waiting."

This is what I'm learning about mercy

How is your understanding of "mercy" changing through this experience?

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Example: "I'm learning that mercy isn't always deliverance. Sometimes it's the grace to endure one more day. I don't like this lesson, but I'm learning it."

My Mercy Story

This is what's happening:

This is what I've asked for:

This is what God has given instead:

This is what I'm learning about mercy:

My story resonates with:

A word from Scripture:

"In every kind of sickness, God's mercy looks different.
But it's still mercy."