You sent Your Word to heal them...yet they refuse to heed it and continue to suffer in pain.
You sent Your Son to bind up their broken hearts...yet they turn and walk away.
You are near to the brokenhearted...even then they don't acknowledge you.
Help me point them to You, Father...the One who is waiting to bind up their wounds and save those who are crushed in spirit. Help me point them to you.
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Tu fidelidad is grande. Tu fidelidad incomparable es. Nadie como tu bendito Dios. Grande es tu fidelidad.
Your faithfulness is great. Your faithfulness is incomparable. There is no one like You God. Great is Your faithfulness!
I praise You for who You are...that You are faithful and can be trusted. I thank You for showing us yet again this week just how great Your faithfulness is...in my precious niece and great niece's lives, in my daughters' lives, in my own life. How could I ever doubt You, Lord? Yet, so often I do.
My heart is rejoicing at the way You have answered so many of my prayers this week...sometimes exactly as I have asked, sometimes above and beyond anything I could have ever have asked for or imagined, sometimes in a way I would not have hoped, but always in a way that was absolutely perfect, in accordance with Your will for our lives. Yes, Your faithfulness is incomparable!
My heart is also heavy with burdens of so many friends who are hurting with various things right now. I think of S & R, sifting through the news that the cyst on his brain is once again filling up with fluid...the surgery they hoped was going to cure him didn't. I think of D, still in such excruciating pain, more than six weeks after her surgery. I think of my sister, having major surgery today, due to a second battle with cancer...a new form of cancer...after being cancer free for five years. I think of B, in the hospital, recovering from a brain injury caused by a head on collision by a drunk driver.
My heart breaks for C, J, M, S all struggling with deep, painful relationship issues...all with wounds so deep they find it hard to move forward in community with other believers...wounds that threaten to destroy them and the ministries You have for each of them. Then there are D and J who lost two dear loved ones in their family this past week and the pain they are both experiencing right now. I think of far too many to name, who are struggling with the emotional pain of rejection, abuse, divorce, and more...deeply wounded hearts.
You tell me in Your Word that when I am weary and carrying a heavy burden that I can come to You. You tell me to cast all of my cares upon You. You tell me not to be anxious about anything but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving to present my requests to You. You tell me to ask, seek, and knock. And so, that is what I am doing. I am once again, bringing my heavy load and laying it at Your feet, asking You to work on behalf of each of my dear friends and family members; seeking wisdom for any involvement You would have from me.
How reassuring it is to know that You never get tired of me asking, seeking and knocking. You are never bothered or perturbed when I come to You with the same request over and over again. When You bring them to mind, I simply lay them before You, as often as the burden is on my heart. But, I never need to pick them up and carry them again. For I am laying them at the feet of my God who is faithful...and can be trusted. I don't have to take these burdens up again because I know I can trust YOU with each and every one of them.
Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the skies. (Psalm 36:5)
"Know therefore that the LORD Your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deuteronomy 7:9
God is ever faithful and He is at work, healing my own wounded heart. I was to teach in my Sunday School class today...teach about our Response to our Father's love. What should our response be to His amazing love? Quite simply loving in return...loving Him and loving others.
I didn't want to teach. I didn't feel what I knew was in that lesson...how understanding His love sets us free to love because we can trust our Father to only allow people in our lives who are ultimately for our good and His glory. But I prepared my lesson, out of obedience to my Father, who does love me, and is faithful to only allow what is good for me. It may not always feel good at the moment but it is good and He knows that.
As I prepared and as I taught, a little part of me began healing as my precious Father taught me those powerful truths once again. Thank you Father for the process you are taking me through of healing my wounded heart. I know this is all part of a much bigger work you are doing in me...much deeper things you want to teach me...much greater plans you have for my life.
About three weeks ago, I developed an ear infection that brought my life to a screeching halt.Not only was I in excruciating pain, I was also experiencing a great deal of vertigo, balance issues and severe hearing loss.After two weeks and two different antibiotics, I returned to my physician thinking I had not responded to either of the antibiotics because I felt no better.The doctor looked in my ear and informed me that the infection was gone but I had a lot of fluid built up in the middle ear.My sinuses were blocked, not allowing the fluid to drain properly. Fluid was causing all the current pain, hearing loss, and vertigo…not infection.
I see such a parallel in this illustration and the way many of us—myself included—often responds to God’s healing in our lives.We pray for healing in certain areas and He is faithful to heal.Yet, we do not recognize the healing when it comes.We continue to live as broken, wounded victims, unable to experience the healing we have received because of fear, doubt, unforgiveness, and more.
In John Chapter 5, Jesus meets a man, at the pool called Bethesda, who has been sick for 38 years. This man has been lying on a mat by the pool, hoping to be the first one in the pool when the angel stirs the waters, so that he might be made well. However, he is so weak and feeble; somebody always beats him into the water.Jesus, knowing how long he has been sick, asks him if he wants to be made well.I find his response quite interesting. He never answers Jesus question. Instead, he gives the reason for why he cannot receive the healing offered in the pool.In verse 8, Jesus says to the man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”Verse 9 goes on to tell us, “And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked….”
Let’s break this story down just a little and see how it applies to our own lives. The first point I want to make is that Jesus not only knew the man was sick, He even knew how long he had been sick.He knows all about our wounds:what or who caused them, how deep they are, and how long they have been there.Just like with this man, nothing is too severe for God to heal. It does not matter if it is a one-week old, a 38-year old, or even a 98-year old wound.God sent Jesus to heal us (Psalm 107:20, Luke 4:18) and He did not put limitations on that healing.
Another thing I find in this story comes from verses 6 and 7 when Jesus asks the man if he wants to be made well and the man’s response is not a “Yes” or “No” but rather excuses for why he is not yet healed.During Jesus’ time on earth, we often heard Him say, “Your faith has made you well.” He didn’t say that to this man; this man did not have faith. However, God healed him despite his lack of faith.God does not base His healing on our faith. He heals because He desires to see His children whole.Sometimes, He wants to test our faith in the situation. Other times, He simply wants to lavish His love on us, His children.In this case, this man had all but lost hope and faith in ever getting well.God chose to show His power and in doing so caused the man to have faith in Him, as we will see next.
This man had suffered from his ailment for 38 years. He was so weak that he could not even get himself into the pool before others. Yet, when Jesus told him to rise, verse 9 tells us he was immediately made well.The Greek word for “rise” is “egeirō”.According to Thayer’s Lexicon, “egeirō” means to cause one down with disease—lying sick—to recover.When Jesus told this man to arise, He was pronouncing healing on him.This healing was instantaneous, leaving no room for doubt and this man suddenly had hope again…and faith.
How do I know he now had faith? Jesus did more than tell this man to arise. He also told him to take up his bed and walk.Verse 9 says the man was immediately made well, then goes on to say he took up his bed and walked.It would take a great deal of faith to pick up his mat and walk, after all those years of lying around too sick to even crawl a few feet to get into the pool.
That brings us to my main point…this man took up his bed and walked. After Jesus healed him, he could have stayed there on his pallet where he had grown comfortable in life. After all, he had no responsibilities, no demands, and no stressors.Oh my, he would have to take care of himself if others heard of his healing.People would not feel sorry for him anymore. Where would he live? What kind of trade would he be able to learn at his age?What if he tried to stand up and fell on his face? Everybody would laugh.What if he got sick again and lost his prime spot by the pool?It really would be safer to stay right where he was. He didn’t need to pick up his bed and take off on a hike to who knows where.He could just enjoy his healing from there.In fact, he could be a witness for Jesus, telling other sick people about how He healed him…from right there beside the pool.
That sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?Yet how many of us do the exact same thing?God heals us of the wounds from our past but we are afraid to take up our beds and walk.We ask God to heal us from bitterness and unforgiveness…and He does.However, we continue with our vow never to trust anybody…too afraid of being hurt again.We have become comfortable living as a victim—enjoying the sympathy of others—and allow fear, insecurity, doubt, and more to keep us living as if we are still that victim, long after God has healed us of abuse.God heals us of addictions or unhealthy lifestyles. Yet the fear of failing keeps us from taking responsibility in our lives. Therefore, we become stagnant…never moving forward.
The Greek word for “walked” is “peripateō”.Thayer’s Lexicon defines “peripateō”, “to make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities.” I just love that!When the man in John Chapter 5 took up his bed and walked, he was making his way, making progress, making use of opportunities…new opportunities presented to him because of the healing he had received.When God heals us, He presents us with new opportunities…opportunities to make progress…opportunities to walk in His healing.It is up to us whether we are going to stay by the pool or take up our bed and walk.
Jesus said in John 10:10 (MSG) “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy.I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” Do not let the enemy steal the full, abundant life that Christ came to bring you by trapping “fluid in your ears”, long after your Father has healed the infection.Take up your bed and walk.
