Laura Story's new book made me question if God only heals us spiritually

🌿 I am reading WHEN GOD DOESN'T FIX IT by Laura Story. In it she says God only cares for our spiritual health not our physical health. It kinda makes me mad that (in her view) Jesus had to die for only that small part of me. I am also body and mind. I would hope a god who cares for my spiritual health would care for my ills of my body and glitches in my mind. The author cites the time Jesus walked away from Capurnium because they had physical ills not spiritual ones. What is prayer for them if not the hope God can heal all parts of us not just the spirit part.

I had to ask AI for more input since it has access to the whole bible and concordance. Here is what it showed me... Made me feel a whole lot better

***

You are not wrong to feel disturbed by that statement.

In fact, your reaction is healthy, wise, and spiritually discerning.

Let’s slow this down, because what the author is saying is actually her perspective, not a universal theological truth—and not what Scripture consistently teaches.

🌿 1. God absolutely cares about your body.

The Bible repeatedly affirms that you are embodied, not just a floating soul.

“Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.” —1 Cor. 6:19

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” —Psalm 147:3

Jesus healed bodies constantly—blind eyes, crippled legs, fevers, bleeding, paralysis, epilepsy, leprosy, chronic conditions.

Jesus didn’t say,
“Only your soul matters.”
His ministry screams the opposite.

He fed hungry people.
He touched diseased skin.
He cared about exhaustion.
He helped the lame walk.
He calmed physical storms.
He comforted people’s emotional distress.
He wept, which is psychological, emotional, and physical.

He ministered to whole humans.

You are a whole person:
body + mind + soul.
God designed all three.
God values all three.
God tends to all three.

🌿 2. The idea that God only cares about spiritual health is not biblical—it's a particular theological lens.

Some Christian writers emphasize spiritual growth because we do learn in suffering.
But that does not mean God doesn’t care about the body or the mind.
Jesus spent more time healing physical ailments than preaching sermons.

If physical health didn’t matter to God,
Jesus wouldn’t have bothered touching anyone.

🌿 3. When Jesus left Capernaum, it wasn’t because physical problems didn’t matter.

It was because:

  • He had a bigger mission unfolding.

  • He was always moving to new places.

  • He didn’t physically heal everyone on earth at once.

  • But He never said, “Your body doesn’t matter.”

Everywhere He went, He healed people as a sign of God’s love for the whole person.

Laura Story’s point may be:

  • God may not fix every physical thing,

  • but He will always work on the spiritual heart.

That is true.
But saying God only cares about the spirit is simply not supported by Scripture.

It reduces the compassion of Christ to something narrow.
You’re right to resist that.

🌿 4. God cares about your physical wounds, your chronic pain, your exhaustion, your diabetic foot ulcer, your stress, your mental weight.

These are not “irrelevant” to Him.

Jesus says:

“Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened.”

He doesn’t say,
“Come to Me only if your burden is spiritual.”

Weariness is physical.
Burden is emotional.
Pain is whole-person.

God is not ignoring your exhaustion.
God is not shrugging at your illness.
God is not unconcerned with your mental overwhelm.

🌿 **5. The cross wasn’t just about spiritual salvation—

it opened the door for complete restoration.**

The resurrection is a physical event.
Jesus rose with a body.
The promise of heaven is a new body, not a disembodied soul.

God never intended you to be divided into parts He cares about vs. parts He doesn’t.

He loves all of you.
Wholly.
Tenderly.
Completely.

🌿 6. Your anger makes sense.

Because what you heard stirs up:

  • “Does God care when I’m sick?”

  • “Does He see my pain?”

  • “Does He care about the part of me that hurts every day?”

The answer is: Yes. Yes. Yes.
God is not distant from the physical suffering of His children—Jesus literally lived inside one.

What you’re longing for is a whole-person God.

And that’s exactly who God is.

***

Here is a gentle, Scripture-rich devotional that affirms God’s care for the whole person—body, mind, and spirit.

Devotional: “Held in Every Part: God’s Care for Body, Mind, and Spirit”

Opening Thought
Sometimes we hear messages—spoken or implied—that God’s real concern is only our “spiritual” condition, as if the rest of us is extra, expendable, or somehow less precious. But Scripture paints a far fuller picture. From Genesis to Revelation, God reveals Himself as a Creator, Shepherd, Healer, and Redeemer of the whole human person.

Your body is not a mistake to endure.
Your mind is not a glitch to be ignored.
Your spirit is not the only part of you God calls good.

God made you a whole being, and He delights to care for you as one.

1. God Created Your Whole Self—Intentionally

“Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” — Genesis 2:7

Here, God shapes body (dust), gives spirit (breath), and ignites mind (a living being capable of thought).
Creation itself reveals God’s care for the integration of your whole self.

We were never designed as spirits floating in bodies; we are embodied souls.

2. God Heals Bodies, Minds, and Spirits

“Praise the Lord… who heals all your diseases… who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion.” — Psalm 103:2–4

The psalmist doesn’t separate spiritual healing from physical restoration—God’s compassion covers both.

Even when Jesus walked away from Capernaum (Mark 1:35–38), it wasn’t because He didn’t care about their bodies. He had already healed many there. His mission required movement, but His heart remained compassionate toward the sick. Everywhere He went, His hands and His voice worked together—miracles for the body and messages for the soul.

Jesus never healed only spirits.
He laid His hands on the blind, spoke peace to the troubled, and raised actual, physical bodies from the dead.

3. God Cares for Your Mind and Emotional Life

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.” — Psalm 34:18

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” — 1 Peter 5:7

God moves toward:

  • the anxious mind,

  • the weary heart,

  • the discouraged thoughts.

Jesus spent significant time calming fears, restoring hope, and steadying minds. Mental and emotional struggle was never something He treated as secondary.

4. Jesus’ Ministry Was Holistic

“…He went everywhere doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil…” — Acts 10:38

“Jesus saw her… laid His hands on her… and immediately she straightened up.” — Luke 13:10–13

When Jesus healed the bent-over woman, He healed her body and restored her dignity.
When He fed hungry crowds, He cared for their physical needs and taught their hearts.
When He forgave sins, He often paired it with physical restoration (“Which is easier…?” Matthew 9:5–7).

Jesus is not the Savior of only one part of you.
He is the Shepherd of all of you.

5. God Promises a Fully Restored Body and Mind

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes… there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” — Revelation 21:4

The Gospel does not end with disembodied spirits.
It ends with resurrection bodies, renewed minds, and healed spirits.

If God’s care stopped at the spirit, resurrection would be unnecessary.
But it is central to the Christian hope.

God doesn’t discard your body—He redeems it.

6. Prayer Is an Invitation for Wholeness

“May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
— 1 Thessalonians 5:23

Paul didn’t say “spirit only.”
His prayer reveals God’s desire: wholeness in every dimension of your being.

When we pray for healing, peace, clarity, strength, or comfort, we pray in line with God’s character and His heart.

Closing Reflection

You do not have to shrink your hopes or compartmentalize your needs.
You don’t have to believe God loves only the invisible parts of you.

God crafted your body.
God shaped your mind.
God breathed life into your spirit.
And from first breath to resurrection morning, God cares for the whole you.

Prayer:
Lord, thank You that You knit together every part of me—body, mind, and spirit. Help me trust Your care in all my needs, not just the ones I think are “spiritual enough.” Restore what is broken. Strengthen what is weary. Renew what feels lost. Make me whole in You. Amen.

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