(1 John 5:5-13; Psalm 147: Luke 5:12-16)
What is it that people sought out in Jesus during his earthly ministry? The New Testament reveals to us the answer, people sought him out for physical healing and they deeply desired to hear him speak and reveal to them the Truth. Over and over we read of the masses presenting themselves to Jesus for physical healing for themselves of their loved ones. Additionally, we read verse after verse how his followers hung on his every word and how they were amazed at his message. Yes, they needed healing of their physical ills and their spirits needed spiritual healing found only in the Truth Jesus gave the world. How blessed were they live in the midst of God himself made manifest as Jesus Christ – the source of true healing.
Our world today carries the same needs, we cry out for physical healing and our hearts yearn for true spiritual healing. Yes, today we are still in desperate need of Jesus’ healing hand and his true words. As a Naturopath I have witnessed firsthand the physical, emotional and spiritual pain experienced by those who seek my care. Perhaps, not unlike the leper in today’s Gospel, they wish to be made “clean”. They wish to be brought back into their family, back into their community, back into health and wellness. And most of all, they wish to be loved and they wish to love. However, unlike Jesus, I can’t will their healing into reality, I have had to rely on the natural remedies I have at my disposal.
And this is where I find myself at a crossroads. What are we missing? Why can’t we “will” healing and witness it’s immediate manifestation as the leper did when Jesus willed it? After all, Jesus told us in John 14:12 that we can do such works if we believe.
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because I am going to the Father – John 14:12
Therefore the block to true healing must lie within mankind’s collective disbelief. I believe we have healing beyond our imagination, yet mankind has not arrived at the place necessary for such healing to spontaneously and instantaneously occur throughout the world. So what are we doing wrong? And most importantly, what must we, God’s children, do to receive our inheritance of wholeness.
The answer can be found within a need for a foundational change in how mankind sees the world. We must move into our hearts. It seems modern man lives in his head and neglects the true healing found in the heart. We need proof, we need reason, we need to make sense of things – In my opinion we put too much trust in man’s reason. All the while we too often discredit miracles, faith, and we doubt our intuition – we minimize what we know to be true in our hearts. While I do not seek to discredit science or human reason, I do believe we need a proper balance between human reason and faith in God. Looking around at the world it seems mankind has much room to grow in our hearts – the place we enjoy unity with God. And the place where our belief matures.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. – Psalm 51:10
As I prepare for my upcoming L.I.V.E. Retreat next weekend I sit immersed in a deep desire to be an open conduit for God’s healing so that I can be of service to the attendees who seek respite – respite that I know can only come from God, through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit. Over the years I have worked with thousands of individuals who have sought my care, each of them coming to me seeking healing of their ills. I have recommended various natural remedies and life style changes in an attempt to guide them towards health, happiness and wholeness. I have even encouraged many to go back to their church and focus on their relationship with Jesus. However, through it all I have learned one thing – all the best natural remedies and lifestyle changes will not work when the hurt can only be healed by God. No remedy could ever heal what only Love can heal. While I won’t go into detail about my work here in this reflection, it is the understanding of the need for such healing that I have been lead to create The L.I.V.E. Method and prepare for my upcoming weekend. A weekend I envision filled with the Holy Spirit, filled with hope in Jesus Christ, a weekend filled with forgiveness and acceptance. A weekend where hearts become more healed so that God can more fully live there.
Then I am reminded of the true instantaneous healing available to us as I reflect on today’s Gospel and mankind’s need to grow in our belief and my heart enjoys a moment of blissful peace. While to many the world may look scary I see it differently. Through pain we can experience the beauty of healing, through tragedy we can learn the grace of forgiveness, through trials we can become wise and through lost love we can learn how to allow God into the brokenness of our hearts. However, we must first believe God is faithful, we must grow in our prayer lives until earth is filled with continuous prayer to Him, and we must surrender to God our hearts until we have given Him our entire heart. The journey will foster in us a deeper belief, a belief where miracles simply happen, a belief where God’s Kingdom is on earth as it is in Heaven. Earth will be filled with whole and healed children of God because He wills it and because His Son came to testify to the Truth.
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” – Revelation 5:13
Sacred Heart of Jesus – have mercy on us.
