Action Towards Healing
author: Hope at Joy In The Mourning Ministries
I am in a Bible study and we are going through the book of John. Recently I have found it interesting that in John 5 it talks about how there was a man who could not walk that had been at the healing pool for 38 years without being healed (John 5:5). I would imagine this guy felt hopeless, even when there was the Healer in front of him at first glance. Jesus asked if he wanted to be healed and he came up with excuses of why he had not been in the pool.
I read this article from the Gospel Coalition called, "Do you want to be healed?" It talked about how, often times, we may choose to wallow in self pity and want God to feel sorry for us as we feel sorry for ourselves. God most definitely does care how we feel, but, at the same time, He wants us to obey Him and stop making excuses in our own self pity and come to Him available to the healing He wants to do in us. The healing might come, but might not look like what we would imagine. God has His own timing for things that our human minds can not understand.
A recent sermon at my church was talking about saying yes to God even when it might be hard. I know for me its hard not to feel sorry for myself, but at the same time, God is waiting for us to say yes to His plan. I do believe God can heal us of our mental anguish, whether that is with fear, or anger, or whatever emotion we consistently struggle with; He is there for us to lean on Him. He may also put tools or people along the way to help us, but He is the Healer. He wants to have spritual freedom from our thoughts that are holding us down. He may heal us physically sometimes, but, even in the moments of Him sating no or long periods of waiting, He is there to comfort us.
Psalm 46:1 tells us that, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” This help includes hard times and all times. In dealing with grief, let us find joy this week in knowing He cares and wants to comfort us in our anguish. Let us be encouraged to take action towards healing and invite others on our journeys to listen to what God does as He continues carrying out His plans for us.
