Is there ever TRUE Healing?

Is there healing in Christ?

True healing?

Does He offer that promise to heal us of our infirmities both physical and spiritual?

I have been chewing on this for awhile now - having many friends and family with chronic physical illnesses and also spiritual struggles, issues and battles.

Scripture is clear that God CAN heal physically if HE WILLS.

Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  Psalm 103:2-5

People brought all their sick to him (Jesus) and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.  Matthew 14:35b, 36

These are only a few passages that mention physical healing or bear witness to people being healed by God.

But what about the healing of the heart? 

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

Ok but does he HEAL us to the point of FREEDOM from our issues, struggles and addictions…

My friends and I who battle daily with Satan over that tendency to despair or that urge to emotionally eat or that draw to escape life into a drink or a x-rated website - these on going attacks that we endure and fight... Is there healing and freedom from this?

“Maybe not this side of heaven.” The words of my battle weary husband scarred from the enemy’s deep wounds and relentless attacks.

If I fast for the freedom will I end up wasting away to nothing for nothing? If I pray fervently for the freedom and do not receive it have I prayed in vain?

The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Even the Apostle Paul lived with an issue that tormented him and cause him to be a battle weary soldier at times.

To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12: 7-10

Ahhhh… These struggles and issues can be tools in the hands of our maker. We fight the good fight but He may choose to leave us in that battle.

It is in the position of weary brokenness that we are most receptive to the Lord’s molding and shaping. The battle brings us to a place of humility and desperate dependence.

Pride and independence keep God at arm’s length.

What if I admitted (to myself and God) that I ultimately have no power to handle the struggle and MUST lean on Him to empower me? (He already knows this, but I need to hear myself say it again and again)

Desperate Dependence. It has a nice ring to it. It feels more God controlled, safe and somehow complete.

The struggle is part of the journey not necessarily the problem. Joy and sorrow...

The struggle is where I meet God naked, weak and empty handed. I have nothing to offer that would save me from my battle and bring freedom.

I may stuggle 'til the end of my days but if it brings me deeper and closer to my Father then I will trust him and keep fighting the good fight. 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

Thank you Lord for a renewed perspective and a refreshened hope today.

Sometimes Life Stinks

God works in ways that I don’t understand. That’s a good thing.

His ways are higher than my ways. That is a relief. 

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

But then life happens. 

Circumstances.

Everything looks like doom and gloom. Stress and crisis.  Hurt with no healing. 

Sometimes, I struggle to see God’s hand in my circumstances. I no longer hear His voice whisper to my soul. I feel lost and confused.

But then the light breaks through and I see Him in the actions of a loving friend or I hear Him in the words of an encouraging coworker. A ray of sunshine beaming through the dense dark clouds. 

It is God personified giving me the tight embrace I was longing for. The assurance of His presence. He is here. He does care.

It is God reaching down to one of his daughters to say, “Press on child. I am not finished yet. You can make it. This will not crush you. I am holding you in the palm of my hand. Safe and secure. I am here.”

Did you see the sunbeam? That was for you. 

Did you hear me in the kind words? That was for you. 

Did you feel the love in the action? That was really from me to say “I’ve got this. It’s okay.”

I’m the kind of person who can get her brain in a tizzy rather quickly when the day begins to escape me. I feel the loosening of my grip when events, attitudes and details begin to slip. 

Detail oriented, yes. Control freak, sometimes. 

I remember a season of life recently where circumstances developed to a frenzied state beyond anything I could have imagined. My grip of control became a mute point. The carpet was literally yanked out from under my feet. There was crisis at every turn.

Children with school issues. Tight finances and needed expenses. Thick marriage tension. Sudden death in the family. Leadership turnover in the workplace. Despair lurking around every corner. Depression tempting me to take the plunge.

I was in a pit looking up at shovelful after dark shovelful of heavy dirt cascading down on me. I stood empty handed, mouth gaping, in utter disbelief.   

Seriously. How much does God think I can handle? 

Darkness. Silence. Solidtude.

Oh… yes. I forgot… I can’t handle any of it. That is why HE is here.

My life is not my own. I was "bought at a price". My life has been dedicated to God for his greater purposes. I lay it down daily, hourly, sometimes moment by moment. 

Each new day is another opportunity for my waking prayer to be, “As You wish.”

In the 1988 film, “The Princess Bride”, the hero, Wesley, responds to each request of his beloved Buttercup, with the words, “As you wish.”

What if that is how I responded to every request from the Lord -or every circumstance he allowed to come my way?

“As You wish, Father. Your way is best. Always.”   

Sometimes I still find myself surprised, dishearten, and even depressed with my circumstances. I need to remember that He is in control.  I have given my day, my year and ultimately my life to him.  

If this is what he deems as the road conditions for my journey, then I accept.

I accept less than perfect children. 

I accept the painful struggle toward a healthier marriage. 

I accept the financial situations that test my trust in God’s provision.  

I accept the early death of my father. 

I accept the difficult transition at work.

As you wish, Lord. As you wish.

You Lord, see the whole road with its hills and valleys. You see the joys and the sorrows.

You see how much I will learn and grow if I persevere in trust through each challenging day. 

You see when I need a sunbeam on a cloudy day or a word of encouragement for my thirsty soul.

You see …and You gladly provide.