Healing

This week I've seen some cool things. A 20 year asthma condition healed. That was one of the church's secretaries who, during a service, had a vision of herself healed. That day, she was. That was really cool. Then there was an amazing lady who, in spite of the torment of depression and a constant well of rage inside of her, pressed through week after week to offer a sacrifice of worship to God though her countenance was distant from her actions. Last week she was flooded with joy and the depression lifted for the first time in a year and a half and the joy has remained. Again, very cool. I don't fully comprehend why some are healed and some aren't. Certainly the ratio is not near 100%. I have my theories but that's for another time. What I can do is to look at those who have been healed and find some common characteristics. In both of these cases (as well as the other miracles I've seen here) those who have seen a breakthrough manifest in their physical bodies were people who, without offense, pressed through a season of lack by offering to God the most precious of gifts, worship in the midst of suffering. They also seem to avoid the two most common responses to suffering. Guilt/shame, and blaming God. Neither of these things I could find in any of those who have been healed. Proverbs 13:12 reads like this. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when desire comes, it is a tree of life. Whoever despises the word shall be destroyed, but he that fears the commandments shall be rewarded."

Redeeming Trauma and Tragedy

There's a need to look at this with eyes not clouded by bitterness and see that herein lies a powerful hope. That is the revelation of how to redeem trauma. As a believer you have access to blessing in every area of your life. I believe this with all of my being. Forgiven of sin, free from sickness, and delivered from torment. What would it be like if any event of your past could be brought up and you feel no need to defend yourself? Salvation through Jesus Christ gave you permission to live as though you had never sinned. I'll take it a step further. Anytime you revisit your past sins (apart from the blood of Jesus) you open yourself up to a spirit of deception. Why? Because it doesn't exist any longer for the blood of Jesus didn't just cover it. It removed the sin. When you revisit past sins you recreate the event to the point where you begin to feel the emotion of guilt or shame associated with that event that doesn't exist. What's happened? You're subjecting yourself to events and emotions that Jesus Christ died to redeem. Hope is the immune system of the believer and it's at this point that you trade the hope in your heart for shame. Any place in your life where there is no hope is a place where a stronghold exists that is built upon a foundation of a lie of the enemy that you have believed. When you believe the truth of the Word of God, you are taken to a supernatural level of freedom. When you believe a lie of the enemy you are taken to a supernatural level of bondage.
At the end of every disappointment we are at an extreme state of vulnerability where we are drawn into questioning the goodness of God for us. When someone said to you, "God is good." you might have responded with, "He's good to some." You then begin to devalue what you have believed and start sacrificing what God has given you to embrace disappointment. I have piles of questions based upon what I don't understand, but if I sacrifice what I do understand for those things that I don't, I am trading the truth for a lie.

What's the cure?

First, be honest to God, not religious. Spend time weeping before God in honesty, not accusation. Take time in this. You'll take it now or later, for bitterness will take you to a place of disease. That is dis-ease. When you don't take care of the issues of the heart you remove yourself from the umbrella of divine protection and make yourself a candidate for affliction. The affliction is not from God nor is it Him saying, "This is ok with Me." It's you unwilling to work with God to deal with the issue. Continue to go before Him and pour out your heart. If you will not allow the peace that passes understanding to come you'll probably never find the understanding you're looking for.

Second, find your voice in the Psalms. Look for your heart's cry. The Psalms contain every possible emotion and is well representative of every conflict and tragedy there is in life. When you find your heart's cry read it as if it were your own voice. Most of the time, the answer is there as well.

Third, rightly discern the Lord's body. 1 Corinthians 11:23 talks about this in communion and says some huge things about why many believers are sick and dying. The cup is the shed blood of Jesus that dealt with sin. What's the broken body for? Discerning the body of Christ is taking the time to realize the price that was paid for your healing. This is more than a remembrance of former things. It's a reminder that Jesus paid for something. Why do I pray for the sick and contend for healing and count disease as an enemy? Because I want Jesus to get what He paid for. I don't know who all will read this article, but please know this. Jesus paid for your miracle in blood. The same faith you have for your salvation is the same faith that will raise you up to complete newness of life. Spirit, soul, AND body.