by Terri Webster
Last week I wrote about a woman who suffered a chronic
illness, until she touched Jesus’ clothes while in a mob of people on a dusty
road. She was instantly healed.
Her illness had controlled her life for 12 years. She used
up all her resources trying to find healing, only to get worse.
If you missed last week’s post, you can read it Here, before continuing.
Do you suffer with a chronic condition?
I do.
A chronic condition is something that persists, is
long-lasting.
My personal search for answers to chronic pain has led me
right here, where I am today, struggling
to put words to it. I don’t want to say anything cliché or give some
lighthearted answer with a Bible verse to back up my answer.
If you struggle with a chronic disease, pain, depression,
etc., the last thing you want to read is do
this, do that, eat this, don’t eat that or be cured by doing this. The Internet is full with blogs and
articles with promises of healing.
Now, I do avoid certain foods, and use more natural forms of
managing my chronic conditions, but I want to go below the surface of skin,
veins, tendons, joints, bones, blood and cartilage today and look at what Jesus
also meant when He said to the sick woman, Daughter,
your faith has healed you. Mark 5:34
The day she reached out and touched His clothes, was the
beginning of a new life for her. She no longer suffered with a bleeding
condition. But a deeper, more personal healing was done because she believed Jesus
was the promised Savior.
He called her daughter.
Because she believed Jesus was the promised Savior, she now could enjoy His
peace and walk in freedom from suffering that went beyond her physical pain to
the core of her soul and spirit.
After that life-changing day, we don’t know if she simply
went home or followed Him to His torturous death. I can only speculate, but if
I had been that woman, I would have wanted to follow my Healer, the One who
called me daughter, for the rest of
my days on earth.
Many spiritual leaders have told us that we either don’t
have enough faith, or there must be sin and unforgiveness in our lives as to
why we may not experience God’s supernatural healing.
If you’re a Believer in
Christ, having received His provision for eternal life, He’s already done a
supernatural work in you.
While I’ve been asking Jesus how I can touch His clothes today,
He’s graciously reminded me of the following that I would like to share:
- He created us specifically and intimately for His purposes. Psalm 139:13-16
For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my
mother’s womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your
works are wonderful. I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from You
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of
the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were
written in
Your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:13-16
- Our body doesn’t belong to us. It belongs to Him. The woman who touched His clothes didn’t have the Holy Spirit living inside of her like we do. It wasn’t until after Jesus ascended into Heaven following His resurrection, that He sent His Holy Spirit. As a Believer, you and I have the Holy Spirit living within us.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple
of the Holy
Spirit who is in you, whom you have
from God, and that you are not your own? 1
Corinthians 6:19
I have good and bad days physically. I’m learning that on my
worse days to thank Him for His strength and power that’s inside of me.
When I
simply praise Him for being my strength, something supernatural takes place.
He wows me every time as I experience His strength and
vitality that I know doesn’t come from my own abilities.
Like Paul, I believe with all my heart that God can
instantly heal me or someone I’m praying for. At times, He has, but never in
the same way or in the way I expected Him to.
- That the Apostle Paul had his own personal struggle.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from
me.
But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,
for my Power is made
perfect in weakness.
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my
weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s
sake, I delight in weaknesses,
in insults, in hardships in persecutions, in
difficulties.
For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
If God doesn’t heal me like He did the woman who touched His
clothes, it’s not because He can’t or won’t. He has a greater purpose. While I’d
be overjoyed to experience complete physical healing, there’s a greater joy in
knowing Him and living in His constant fellowship and presence in my life,
which surpasses all other things.
So, in truth, I’ve already reached out and
touched Him, and received something far greater than physical healing.
Have you?
Like Paul, I want to forget what is behind me as I strain and
press onward toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-14)
Don’t you?
I don’t want to get snagged or become stagnant because of my
physical limitations, but rather, experience His joy, peace and rest because of
them.
I'm a work in progress.
Will you join me in following Paul’s example to stay the
course no matter what?
I invite you to share below in the comments area your
thoughts.
What are your struggles and victories in the area of healing?
Staying the course,
Terri
Photos courtesy of Pixabay @ www.pixabay.com
