The Meaning of Proper Healing
Looking for Healing in the Pain
My seven months of grief and pain came off the heels of a shattered relationship. Two years spent with a man I loved and thought I would marry. It wasn’t the easiest break up either because something had happened to accelerate the connection. We both had given in to the temptation battle and made the great moral failure of sex outside of marriage. The healing from that mistake is another story, but the depth of that moment only added to the hardship of the separation.
For the first time in my life, I had a hard time eating. I cried at least once every day for those seven months, often multiple times daily. I questioned everything I knew, even my understanding of God. I’d like to say I handled that season well, but I didn’t always.
At first, I tried to be strong by throwing myself into prayer and Scripture. I tried to be around friends hoping to forget about the loneliness. I did all the right things. But after two months I broke in a new way. I wanted to give up and throw in the towel because it wasn’t getting any easier. The pain hasn't subsided even a fracture.
I began seeking out comfort by dating other men, although never saw them more than twice. I became intoxicated one Saturday night in my apartment on a bottle of white wine (original, I know). Worst of all, I shut God out. However, after a month I knew those things couldn’t help me heal from the pain I felt, and I recommitted to the healing process through Christ.
I found great comfort In Jeremiah 30:12,17 (ESV):
“For thus says the Lord, ‘Your hurt is incurable, and your wound is grievous.’
For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord.”
What the Bible Says About Healing
I read this and saw an incredible turn of events. How could pain and wounds be incurable in one breath, and healed the next? The understanding lies in the context. Wounds cannot heal when that healing is sought in the world. It’s impossible. But with God any wound is available to healing. The difference lies in the source. I saw hope for what I thought was incurable at the time and placed my trust in the God who heals.
Dealing with the pain and brokenness face-to-face wasn’t easy. But as I opened up the Word of God and began pouring over Scripture, I learned that it’s not promised to be. Few things are more challenging than recovering from a broken heart, lost dream, or grievous situation. In the darkest storms, it seems the hope of healing is the only light that has the power to pierce through like a ray of sunshine parting the storm clouds. For the Christian, we know that the hope Christ provides is our only way of survival.
How Do We Weather the Storm?
How do we weather the storm? How do we, when all seems lost, persevere till we enter into that light at the end of the tunnel? it’s important to understand what Scripture says about finding hope for personal healing, whether that be physical, emotional, or spiritual. Because if we aren’t careful we will pursue healing in an unhealthy or worldly way, and completely bypass proper healing.
The truth is without God complete healing isn’t possible. Only Christ and the Word of God have the ability to reach those broken and achy places within our souls. What path will you choose, because what you choose to allow in and exert back out will determine the process and completion of your healing?
In the next few weeks/posts, I’ll show you what I learned about the healing process.