Will God Heal My Acne?

Have you ever wondered, “Will God heal my acne?” This question might seem trivial to some, but for us battling persistent acne, it’s a profound reflection of our inner turmoil and faith journey.

Saved But Not Healed

I never expected I would receive unkind glances and remarks in church because of my acne.

Although the comments were far and few between, I shuddered each time I heard them. It just stung a thousand times more.

I could endure comments from others but never from them. I expected them to be more sympathetic and compassionate with my physical imperfection. They are Christians after all.

Although my acne has always been mild, it has brought me so many inconveniences that Christians who never had acne might not even understand.

Those little inconveniences, lumped together, were soul-crushing to me.

I held back myself from being carefree or spontaneous with even the littlest things. I had to order my activities around the reality that I had acne-prone skin.

I was so convinced comments about my skin would stop if I had a more acceptable, more normal-looking complexion.

I had some good results with the products I tried, but they were just a short-lived success—my acne would come back again.

Trying to treat my skin became an exhausting, never-ending loop of trial and error. I became so guilty of spending so much time, energy, and money.

I did not receive miraculous healing when I received Christ in my life. So, how do I reconcile my struggle with acne and my faith in God?

Whenever I looked at other Christians, I wondered, “God, can I be a Christian with normal skin too? You have given me faith to believe in you, but God, will you heal my acne too?”

Saved to Receive a Promise

What drew me to Jesus was His ugly and gory state at the cross. He was pierced and disfigured to save me from the punishment of my own sins (Isa. 52:14-15).

I was so moved by His love. I didn’t want to remain in my sins anymore.

And as someone dealing with acne, I saw Jesus in a different light. My acne gave me physical and emotional pain, but it is nothing compared to what Jesus went through for me.

His wounds on the cross allowed me to take my focus away from my physical imperfection and just admire Him at the cross, wounded and disfigured for my salvation.

I didn’t expect Jesus to heal my acne. His grace and love for me were more than enough.

How could I ever want something else when He has given me Himself entirely, completely?

His truth and grace proved I didn’t need to be perfect first before I could approach Him.

I was liberated and relieved to know that perfection is not something I achieve, but it is something that God gives me through Jesus.

Jesus’ blood washed away my sins, and God sees Jesus’ righteousness in me.

So, I was very determined not to allow acne to make me depressed and anxious.

However, comments about my acne were getting under my skin.

And those comments felt like they validated the fears I tried to bury and forget—that I was not pretty and worthy enough; and that no matter how good I was at other things, people would still measure me by how pleasant I looked in their eyes.

My thoughts were pulling me in different directions. I would convince myself my acne was not a big deal, and I just needed to put on makeup and live life unaffected by it.

But living the experience of how cumbersome it can be to put on makeup over breakouts that bleed and crust and flake made me despise my acne-prone skin and my life in general.

There’s part of me saying that as a Christian, I would have been more “spiritual” if I accepted my skin as it is.

Yet, deep inside, I couldn’t accept that for me to feel spiritual, I had to let my self-esteem go down the toilet.

I would also feel ashamed for even questioning the truth that I am fearfully and wonderfully made and for even wanting to have self-esteem.

I was stuck in this loop of thoughts for a long time, not knowing how my Christian faith could help me.

I remember one day I decided to grab my Bible and turn the pages because I couldn’t stand listening to my thoughts anymore.

I wasn’t looking for any specific verse, but my heart was crying out to God that I needed to hear Him because my thoughts were driving me crazy.

Then, a section heading in my Bible caught my attention: The Resurrection Body. I read the verses under it and eventually found one of my favorite parts of the New Testament.

So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body… Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.

 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49

Saved to Receive a Glorious Body

Mark 1:32-39 records the account when Jesus healed many who “were sick or oppressed by demons.”

Because it is a very short account, it is easy to miss what’s between the lines: there was still a crowd of sick people waiting, but Jesus decided not to return to heal them.

If I were one of them, how my heart would have sunk low, comparing my ill-fated lot to others. They have been redeemed from the condemnation of their illness, but I will live with my infirmity until my last breath.

I would have grumbled in my heart, “How could Jesus heal others but not me?”

But would I have dared still follow Him, knowing He would more likely preach than heal in the next towns?

It would be no easy feat to travel in first-century Palestine, especially for a sick person.

But would have I understood Jesus’ desire to go to the next towns to preach as an invitation for me to desire His teaching more than His healing, that through His words I would find the healing that my broken body and soul truly needed?

I guess that’s what happened when I read 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 49.

I realized I may not experience the healing I wanted in this lifetime. I may never regain my clear skin. The best skin I will have will never be ultimately blemish-free, but it will do what skin is supposed to do—protect me from external elements.

The ache and the anguish of never receiving full healing in this lifetime will only last this lifetime—because resurrection will surely happen.

My new body will be raised in glory, and it will be my inheritance for eternity.

Right now, I possess in my body the damaging effects of sin because through Adam, the man of dust, sin entered the world.

But because I put my hope in Christ, the man of heaven, one day will come when I bear His image and all the effects of sin will be undone.

This truth permitted me to accept that it’s normal and not unspiritual for me to try acne treatments.

I am still in my natural body, a body that is subjected to weakness and disease because sin fractured God’s good world.

Acne is a medical condition, an inflammatory skin disorder. So, over the years, I have tried to understand my skin’s unique needs, have tried oral and topical treatments, have followed skincare routines, and have had appointments with dermatologists.

And when these interventions don’t work the way I expect, I’m not ultimately doomed. I may die in old age still with breakouts, but I will live eternally without any thoughts of my skin ever flaring up.

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A post shared by Lara Albano (@blemishedyetredeemed)

Dealing with acne for more than a decade made me realize that I have to shift my desire for God’s healing to God’s teaching.

Until now, I have fought to desire more of God’s teaching because my human nature tells me I will only be happy if God changes my circumstances.

Although managing my acne has been a worthy goal, more often than not, I made it my ultimate goal.

Oftentimes, I failed to see how enduring my skin condition could have formed my character and compassion, how it could have helped me increase my dependence on God, and how could it have trained me to rest my worth in Christ, not on appearance and external validation.

Whenever I have flare-ups, I try my best to shift my perspective and thank God for my acne. This skin condition, a weakness of human flesh, drew me to Jesus.

But I’m not perfect. There are times I am still uneasy looking at my skin in the mirror. Sometimes, I spiral down and lose my stability.

But I always go back to this: Acne allowed me to personally treasure the crucifixion and the resurrection. His love is beyond the love I could ever imagine for myself, so how can I choose to live my life complaining that he has not healed my acne yet?

Will God heal my acne? Yes. He may not heal it right now completely, but when He does, He will not only heal my acne—He will also give me a glorified body.

On this side of heaven, I am going to walk with a limp while following Jesus. That limp is my acne. And this limp will always remind me to desire more of God’s teaching as I follow Him.

Ultimately, His words will form my character, grow my resilience, and give me eternal perspective.

And I hope you will make the same decision too.

No, you don’t have to stop praying and seeking healing for acne. But you have to say yes more often to following Jesus and listening to his teachings.

“Come! Let’s go to the next town where Jesus will preach!”