“A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up.” Ecclesiastes 3:3
“He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3
Healing or to heal: to become sound or healthy again.
It would be fair to say that most of us have experienced some kind of brokenness or an illness in our lives. Something that ought not to be, or a defect that needs correction. The past few months I have been learning how my physical heart is not what it should be, but that due to a defect, is broken. The only remedy was to replace the broken part and then to allow the body to heal with the goal of full restoration. Though it was explained to me, what to expect, I did not know from experience what that would be like. There are many lessons one can learn from an event like this, here are a few things that stand out to me. Healing takes time, healing often includes pain and I can help or hinder the healing process.
Healing takes time. The past few weeks have been a process and a journey. I’ve learned a lot about how the body is able to heal itself and what it takes for that to happen. We live in a
society that expects to have instant progress, quick solutions and three easy steps to a better life. Healing does not work that way; it can take a long time for that which was broken to be restored to wholeness. Jesus is the example and the exception to this; in the Gospels we see Him perform healings in a moment. He interrupts the normal, the natural and exerts His power to bring wholeness to that which is broken. He did that with us, when He finished His work on the cross. One act of trust in Him and we are healed from all of our spiritual brokenness and are made whole with Him. Yet we often find areas of life that He through His Spirit, takes time to restore and in that process, we are drawn closer to Him. His desire is for us to know Him intimately. That is true healing.
Healing includes pain. I can say that though a new valve was placed in my heart and what was broken was corrected, the pain of healing is very real and intense. As bone knits together, as muscles that have been cut reconnect and nerves regrow there is pain involved. It’s expected and is not enjoyable but through the pain, endurance and patience are developed. You learn to appreciate even the small achievements, like putting your own socks on, and begin to be thankful for the progress that is made. Even in the midst of pain I have felt the comfort of the Lord and the prayers of His people. There are times that God desires to remove something that is hindering our growth, whether it is sin in our lives, a habit, an attitude or wrong thinking. This can be painful as we submit to the Healers hand and see that which had once seemed so valuable become loss when compared to the immense value of knowing Christ.
I can help or hinder the healing process. It’s a matter of yieldedness and obedience. If I trust
the doctors, the nurses and the medical staff I’ll do what they say, even if it brings more
discomfort. I am told that I need to exercise and do my breathing exercises. I’m told to sleep on my back as that will allow the sternum to heal. These actions bring a certain amount of pain and discomfort and involve effort when I’m fatigued. But if I’m faithful to do them, they will help my recovery to proceed at a proper rate. If I don’t, then I risk not healing as I should and even may bring about more complications. We are told to renew our minds, to put off the old and to put on the new. We are admonished throughout scripture to walk in obedience and to yield to the leading of the Spirit. If we do this we will heal and grow. If we don’t, we will find ourselves becoming weaker and more distant from our Saviour. We never lose our salvation but our growth and fellowship with Jesus will be stunted and dry. We will find ourselves even regressing and in worse shape than when we started. Though the power for healing comes from outside of ourselves we certainly play a part in the process as we walk in dependence and obedience.
I’m sure there will be many more days ahead of me in this healing process. Some will seem
long and I may wonder if I’ll be completely healed. But I also know that I don’t walk alone and that no matter the physical outcome, what my loving Savior is doing with the inner man will be accomplished.
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, and Phil. 1:6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work among you will complete it] by the day of Christ Jesus” II Cor. 4;16-17
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