August 25, 2021 | Healing
In Jeremiah 17:14, Jeremiah cries out, “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.”
In the beginning of the chapter, the Lord exposes Judah’s grave, almost irreversible sins telling Jeremiah, “The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron; with a point of diamond it is engraved on the tablet of their heart, and on the horns of their altars” (Jeremiah 17:1). The people gristle when Jeremiah tells them of God’s rebuke and, in verse 14, he asks the Lord to heal the wounds caused by his persecutors who fight against Him for speaking the truth.
In times of need, it seems natural to reach out to God for healing. When we are sick, we ask God to heal our bodies. When we suffer heartache, we look to God to heal our broken heart. When we have forsaken another, our prayer is that God might heal a damaged relationship. And, when, as with Jeremiah, people look down on us for speaking the truth, we ask God to heal the wounds caused by their rejection.
Healing is a vital part of our relationship with God. Because of the curse that sin has brought upon us, healing is needed to repair the fractures that iniquity has caused and, in these times of spiritual need, only God can mend what once had been splintered.
Praise be to God that He hears our calls for healing and responds, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Does this mean that after our cries for healing reach the ears of God all our troubles will go away? That depends on what you’re asking for and the faith you have in God to do what He sees as right.
Does God grant miracles? Yes. But maybe the reason for your sufferings goes much deeper. Personally, I look back on my life during times I struggled with various trials, and I notice how they have made me stronger. In our sufferings, healing is not always what we need.
But for those who pray to God for strength to endure, He promises to give you that strength. For those who ask God to help them overcome, even if it doesn’t mean they will be totally healed from whatever ails them, He promises to help them with His righteous right hand.
God is sure to give us the kind of healing that will prepare us for the journey from this life to the next, where sickness and heartache are no more. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, the wounds of our battered and beaten souls have been made to be new again, free from the scars of sin. “He (Jesus) bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds we are healed” (1 Peter 2:24).
God’s focus is more on our spiritual bodies then it is on our mortal ones. He greaves for those who suffer and even mends our earthly flesh, but He is more concerned with our soul and the condition that it is in. God, “Heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). He, “Sustains him on his sickbed; in his illness (He) restores him to full health” (Psalm 41:3), yet His main concern has to do with your soul which has faced the wrath of worldliness.
In our opening verse in Jeremiah, God was concerned with the heart of Judah. He saw that sin was destroying them to the point that they no longer wanted Him to direct them. He longed to heal the soul of Israel, but they were intent on persecuting the messenger.
Even with all of this rejection, God says later in Jeremiah 33:6, “Behold, I will bring to (Judah) health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.” All of this he did through His Son, who restored what once was broken and mended the heartache of all who were lost.
Still today, God works to heal the hearts of His people. Will He heal diseases and fix the wrongs that come upon us in this world? Yes, if that is what is best. But He will also be faithful to heal the hearts, minds and souls of all who place their hope and trust in Him. Let God heal you so that you might be made whole. Please pray with me:
Heavenly Father, thank you for healing us of those things that could cause us eternal harm and teach us to be content in this world as we look forward to our life to come. Amen.
