Jesus said: “Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do” [Matthew 9:12]. Are we well? Who among us can honestly say “I do not need the Lord’s healing”?
To reject the Lord’s healing is to reject his loving mercy. To only have faith in ourselves and not in God is to deny ourselves the healing power of heavenly grace. So, are we well? For myself, the answer is no.
I know I need God’s healing, but that does not mean I always want to take the Lord’s medicine. To do so means being honest with God about my infirmities (aka my sins). Sometimes, I would rather make excuses for myself. Making excuses is easier than a daily examination of conscience in all humility.
However, being honest with God about our lives clears the way to experiencing the greatness of God’s love for each of us. This love feeds our faith and strengthens our hope, which we cannot do on our own. How else can we turn from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, and obtain forgiveness of sins [Acts 26:18]?
In a Daze
The other day I was in the supermarket. A woman was standing, somewhat oblivious, in the middle of the aisle. As I tried to go around her, the woman said: “Oh, I’m sorry, I’m in a daze.” Seeing that she was all right, I smiled and replied: “I think we are all in a daze these days.” We nodded and went our separate ways.
It is certainly understandable if we are in a daze these days with all that is happening in our lives and our world. Do we want to come out of that daze? Maybe, maybe not. Perhaps it provides a comforting fog that stops us from seeing what we do not want to see.
“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice” [James 3:16]. Do jealousy and ambition get the best of us? Do we rationalize our actions and passions to get what we want regardless of the impact on ourselves and those around us? “For we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have found a hiding place” [Isaiah 28:15].
That hiding place will not make sins go away nor will hiding make God go away. Hiding, however, prolongs coming out of the darkness and into the light. If we try to hide from God (truly, we cannot hide from him), how can we obtain forgiveness and healing?
Strong Medicine
Therefore, are we well? If we honestly want to be healed, Jesus Christ is our physician. “He himself bore our sins in his body upon the cross, so that, free from sin, we might live for righteousness” [1 Peter 2:24]. Christ is God’s love made manifest and by his wounds we are healed! This healing is ours to accept or reject.
Personally, I take the Lord’s healing—and his love—in small doses because facing my brokenness is not easy. And while I may not be well, I know I am getting better, especially as I recognize God’s love in my life. I know I am not alone.
Truly, living is better with God than without him. Embracing us as his children, our Lord calls us to live “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another through love, striving to preserve the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace” [Ephesians 4:2–3]. Amen!
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1 Peter 2:21 “For this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps”. Not to bypass the earlier verse of that book. In 1964, a powerhouse Christian movie came out called “In His Steps” written in 1896 might even engender more discussion on this. It’s free to watch at tubitv adapted to a more modern time. However, the book writtten by Charles Sheldon is even offered with the likes of the “Imitation of Christ” in bundles of “Classic” Christian books and yes, in the original book itself, Catholics are included as back in Kansas in those days, Rev. Sheldon was conciliatory to other faiths. It may be odd to mention this but I dare anyone to absorb the message of the original black and white movie and the book is often hailed as the original source of “WWJD”, “What would Jesus do?” and after all, this goes back to a basic “imitation of Christ”.