During a worldwide pandemic we often think of the need for physical healing. But God is the One who can heal EVERY area of your lifeβphysically, emotionally, and spiritually.
God didnβt just heal people in the stories of the Bible. Scripture says, βJesus Christ is theΒ sameΒ yesterday andΒ todayΒ and foreverβ(Hebrews 13:8). That means Jehovah Rapha (our Lord who Heals), from Exodus 15:26 and Jesus Christ β who healed the lame, blind, deaf, and diseased in the New Testament β is still in the business of healing today.
God wants believers to pray for their healing as an act of trust and dependence on Him and to know where our ultimate source of healing comes from. While some aspects of our being are healed immediately, others He heals over time as a way of transforming us into Christ’s likeness.
Here are seven ways God is our healer, even today:
- He heals physically.
Doctors may tell you healing is a result of medical science, yet God works through doctors and gives them wisdom. Nutritionists may tell you healing is a result of natural supplements, but God provided those healing agents in nature and works through them, as well. God also heals through the power of prayer. Youβve heard β or maybe even experienced β cases when a tumor was clearly on an MRI and after much prayer and a second or third scan, the tumor was completely gone, with no explanation other than Godβs healing hand. I have also seen God work through a combination of medical treatment, natural remedies, and the prayers of His people. Jesus once told a woman who risked everything to touch Him, βyour faith has made you wellβ (Matthew 9:22). As you exercise wisdom and diligence to do what you can to be healthy, do you have faith that He can heal your physical infirmities today?
Although GodΒ isΒ able to heal any physical ailment we have, sometimes He allows us to endure certain ailments because they cause us to depend more fully on Him and they draw us closer to Him than weβve been before. Whether God chooses to heal us physically or not, we are to maintain trust in Him that He is good, and that nothing touches our bodies that hasnβt first passed through His loving hands.
2. He heals the disease of sin.Β
Isaiah 53 tells us all that Jesus endured in His own body on the cross to heal our sin nature and free us of the ravages of sin. βBut He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healedβ (verse 5, NASB).
The beauty of this passage is that this prophecy of what Jesus would endure on our behalf to cleanse us from sin was written in past tense, even though it was proclaimed several hundred years before Jesus came to earth. Yet our condition of being healed is declared in that verse inΒ presenttense. That tells me that before it was even carried out, God saw our healing work asΒ already done in Christ Jesus. Praise God that, through your faith in the death and resurrection of His Son on your behalf, He hasΒ alreadyhealed you of a sin condition neither you nor any doctor could remedy.Β
3. He heals the disease of self.
We canΒ invite Jesus into our lives andΒ claim the gift of eternal life andΒ call ourselves His children, but there is still the disease of self to be healed, even after the disease of sin has been atoned for. In Romans 7:18, the Apostle Paul addressed the battle between his flesh (self) and the spirt of God, when he wrote: βFor I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in myΒ flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the goodΒ isΒ not.β But then Paul gives us hope for this constant battle rooted in our flesh when he says in Romans 8:1: βthere is now noΒ condemnation for those who areΒ inΒ Christ Jesus.β In other words,Β self-discipline, determination, trying harder or masking ourselves in good works wonβt fly. Jesus is the Only One who can cure us of the disease of self when we βdie to selfβ and live unto Him.Β
Paul told us the key to healing the disease of self: βI have beenΒ crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, butΒ Christ lives in me; andΒ theΒ lifeΒ which I now live in the flesh I live by faith inΒ the Son of God, whoΒ loved me andΒ gave Himself up for meβ (Galatians 2:20, NASB). Have you, through faith in Jesus, died to yourself so God can finally heal you of the disease of pride and self?Β
4. He heals emotionally.
Sometimes emotional wounds can be deeper and more painful than physical injuries or illnesses. The absence of parental love, the pain of rejection or betrayal, the emotional horror of rape, or the unexplainable sorrow of losing a child, spouse, or anyone you deeply loved, can all seem incurable. God never designed us to experience that kind of grief and sorrow.
We were made to love God and enjoy Him forever in a sin- and disease-free paradise. Yet, our inherent sin from Adam ushered in pain and heartache that still feels foreign to the kind of life we were designed to live. Jesus heals those kinds of wounds that canβt be cured through surgery, medication, or a positive attitude. Psalm 147:3 tells us βHe healsΒ the brokenhearted andΒ binds up their wounds.β AndΒ Hebrews 4:15-16 tells us, βFor we do not haveΒ a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has beenΒ tempted in all things asΒ we are, yetΒ without sin.Β Therefore let usΒ draw near withΒ confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.βΒ
That High Priest is Jesus. Isaiah 53:4 says, βSurely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.β HeΒ has experienced all that we will ever endure in terms of temptation, sorrow, pain, and more β and He has overcome it and is able to help you bear it or overcome it, as well. Have you surrendered your emotional baggage to the One who can heal it all?
5. He heals spiritually.Β
I know many people who were raised in cults, or in Christian homes full of legalism, hypocrisy, judgment, and fleshly addictions. Yet, our view of Christ cannot be tainted by improper representations of Him by those who never knew Him or were poor imitations of Him. We must look at theΒ person of Jesus and theΒ description of God in Scripture to know His true character, or we can remain spiritually ill.Β
In my book,Β When a Woman Overcomes Lifeβs Hurts, I tell Sharonβs story. Sharon was horribly abused by her father from childhood through her teenage years and believed God was as distant and hateful toward her as her father. But her perspective of God changed the day a Bible-teaching pastor asked her βWhich God are you believing in?β He recommended she read what the Bible says about Godβs character and not rely on her preconceived ideas or misconceptions about God. When Sharon took that pastorβs advice and began to search the Scriptures, she found God to be pure, loving, kind, good, and faithful β everything her earthly father wasnβt. Through Godβs healing Word, she was able to unravel the lies she had believed about God and embrace the truth about Him. Davidβs prayer in Psalm 139:23-24 became her personal prayer to be healed spiritually, and it can be yours, as well: βSearch me, O God, and know my heart!Try me and know my thoughts!And see if there be any grievous way in me,andΒ lead me inΒ the way everlasting.βΒ
6. He heals us of the wounds of our past.
Itβs been said βtime heals all wounds.β I believe that happens when we give our wounds to God and trust that He can heal them, in His timing. Raw open wounds donβt heal overnight. But, as we cultivate a lifestyle of trusting God, forgiving others, walking in His light (1 John 1:7), and clinging to His Word, He heals us of those past wounds we canβt seem to overcome on our own.
Maybe you arenβt holding onto an offense by someone else. Maybe youβre holding onto something you did that you canβt forgive yourself for. Trust that if God can forgive you of your most heinous sin, you can forgive yourself, too. Donβt think you are the exception when He said: βAs far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your transgressions from youβ (Psalm 103:33). Donβt think you are excluded in His generous offer: βIf anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have comeβ (2 Corinthians 5:17). Let Him heal you of whatever is in your past because He is the God of fresh starts and new beginnings.
7. He heals our minds and hearts.Β
Do you have a problem loving someone? Forgiving someone? Moving on past a certain hurt because your mind keeps replaying it? God is the Only One who can take care of that completely. Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to the world and its way of thinking and behaving, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds so that we can discern the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Allow God to renew your mind β and heal it β through the constant reading and study of Scripture, through the company of others who obey His Word, and through a continual yielding to the direction and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
For more help in some of these areas, see my books Β When a Woman Overcomes Lifeβs Hurts, andΒ When God Sees Your Tears, both on sale this week in myΒ website store.Β
Thank you so much Ms Cindi…
I am one woman who follows you on your Blog…this article really helps….
Meditating and understanding the Word of God….
Going through and experience that only God knows.
I love and blessings from Fiji..
In christ
Kesaia, Fiji Islands
Thank you, Keshia, for your comment and for your greetings all the way from the Fiji Islands. π
Thank you for these spiritual insights. I sometimes hold on to bitterness when I have to devote so much care for my husband and he is so possessive of my time because he has no friends, I am his whole life. I feel I am not free to go out and about to do Godβs will or even talk much on the phone. I see now I have some resentment towards him and it cannot live in my mind because Jesus lives in me. Thank you again.
You’re welcome, Bonita. Thanks for reading and leaving an honest comment. Many of us struggle with unforgiveness and don’t realize it until we see something right in front of us and our hearts are convicted. (It happens to me, too.) My book, When a Woman Overcomes Life’s Hurts might be really helpful to you right now as I have a chapter on dealing with forgiveness, as well as answering many of the questions we have and myths we believe about forgiveness. Blessings to you as you seek to live more fully for the Lord.