When you hear "you're not praying enough"

Have you ever come across people in the church or Christian people who say that you are still sick so you must not be Christian enough, believing enough or praying enough? I have a "friend" on Facebook who recently said something to the tune of "you're still mentally ill. Don't you believe that God wants to heal you?"

I watched a movie called Miracles from Heaven today, in which a girl is diagnosed with an incurable stomach disease and her mother is bombarded at church with people who say something must be wrong with her beliefs if her daughter is not being cured. It makes her mother leave the church.

Which brings us to those age-old questions of: why do bad things happen to good people? Why do we suffer? Why do some get better or are cured while others die or suffer?

I personally believe that challenges come into our life to shape us into who God wants us to be. I believe that God's will sometimes entails us going through difficult challenges. I have found tremendous strength while battling intense mental illness. In many ways, I am thankful for my mental illnesses because I have met a  lot of amazing people I never would have and I've had interesting experiences that have brought me closer to God. I have faced many challenges along the way, including over 20 hospitalizations.

It's not that I don't believe in miraculous healing, but I am okay if I am not necessarily miraculously healed from my mental illnesses. I have flashbacks nearly every day, I haven't heard voices in a few months and I haven't been suicidal in over a year. I take my recovery step by step, one moment at a time. As they say in every 12 step program, "Progress not perfection."

If someone dies or is not cured from an illness, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are not Christian enough, not believe in God enough or pray enough. It just means that God had a different answer for them.