Healing

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. – Ps 147:3

Lately I’ve been thinking about, and experiencing, a healing process. Well, I would say in two ways. My sanctification as a whole, and then specific situations that bring the main sanctification along. Make sense? My main sanctification meaning life and being made new and like Christ, and then the subcategories and trials of life.

So, healing. Usually when something or someone heals (physical sense), it comes in stages. Take a broken leg for example. Stage one: set the bone. Stage two: get a cast. Stage three: where the cast for a horrendously long time, enduring itchiness and people’s signatures. Stage four: get cast off and do rehab. Each is important to properly heal (except maybe the signatures). I’m learning that my spiritual life is the same way. Thankfully when God breaks me, He heals me too. But, that healing comes in stages. It won’t all just get better in one fell swoop. And, unfortunately, just like people still have troubles with their knees after having torn their ACLs and had surgery, I’ll still (and do) struggle. Even during the healing.

I’m also realizing that life isn’t about the physical, the things we can touch, see, smell, hear, experience through senses. It’s about the spiritual. I may not have all I want physically or circumstantially, but I can still be content. Sounds simple, right? Yeah, no. It’s not. Honestly, there are a lot of things I wish I could change or ‘fix,’ but I’m learning that it’s myself that needs ‘fixing.’ Circumstances and the physical are just catalysts. God is healing me. He’s pushing me to trust Him more. Let Him handle it because He has so many times in the past. Yeah, He could fix the external. He has that power. But He’s choosing to fix the eternal, not the temporary. I think about all the times Jesus healed people during His time here on earth. Yes, He healed many physical needs, but His purpose was to heal the spiritual needs. So many times he would accompany the healings with “sin no more,” or “thy faith has saved you.” He wanted them to drink of the Living Water so they would thirst no more.

Going back to healing, I can’t help but thing of rehab. It can be hard. Really hard if you push yourself too much. Same with the spiritual. God doesn’t give us more than we can handle without Him, so I think that’s why He gives us little trials and then they usually seem to get bigger and bigger, but really, if we’re growing and becoming stronger in Christ, they really aren’t bigger. Make sense? Like with weightlifting, the stronger you get, the bigger weights you can lift and it gets easier. I think the more God tests us and we see Jesus, the easier it will be to give ourselves to Him. Not easy, mind you. Just easier.

I am a broken person. I will always struggle. But it’s not about my circumstances. It’s about my responses to them. That’s what God wants to heal. God, change my heart. Let me see you bigger. You’re choosing to fix the eternal, not the temporary.

Thoughts? How has God been healing you?