Suffering a part of life?!?!

The next three weeks I am going to be preaching on three passages that deal with healing from Luke 5.  I have grabbed three separate books that wrestle with the issue of healing and restoration.  One of which is the fiction book the shack and one is The Healing Path by Dan Allendar and one is Healing is a Choice by Stephen Artiburn.  Each is so unique and different in how they see healing and yet they do seem to have a number of things in common as well.

For this first reflection on healing I am drawn to the idea of suffering.  No one needs to be healed who is healthy and doing great.  It is those who recognize their need for healing that may find help.  One of the current movements in the faith says that suffering is never God’s intention for us as humans.  I find that hard to believe in light of James 1 (rejoice in your trials) and Romans 5 (rejoice in your sufferings.)  I believe that life is full of suffering and pain.  But, how we deal with that suffering and pain will not only define our present but will form the foundation for our future.  

Some of us experience deep pain and others of us seem to suffer little.  Yet there is something strange that I have discovered in my journey.  I tend to be strongly attracted to the soul that has found redemption and healing through much pain.  I find myself seldom attracted to souls that avoid pain or who are overwhelmed by their pain and depressed, but there is something about a healed soul that uniquely bears the marks of the redeemer.  They have a deep faith, an often amazing hope and a love for others that is “painfully” obvious.

In Dan Allendar’s book he describes a fourfold journey that we must go on to embrace God and find His healing path for our lives.

1)      We must open the rather than cynically shutting down – This is the first step and frankly the one that holds nearly all of us back from experiencing God’s healing.  Whether it is pride, fear or something else we really struggle to open up and be healed.

2)      We must wait with anticipation rather than killing hope – Our natural tendency is to want God’s healing right away.  I believe God will heal us, but He will only do it in His timing, He wants us to approach Him expectantly, but also submit to His timing.   So, rather than let our hearts give up and kill hope we are to continue to believe that God can take away our pain and replace it with love.

3)      Encircling the other instead of standing alone – All of us deeply desire to be loved and embraced, not only by others, but also by God.  Over time we may experience so much pain and suffering that we have forgotten our longing to be embraced and to embrace another.  We have withdrawn and busied ourselves so that we will not miss what we desperately need.   “Encircling another calls us to both receive and to give through an interplay of honor, passion and respect.”

4)      Letting Go – The last step of the embrace is to let go.  Even with God we must let go for seasons and times so that we may embrace others.  Once we have found a deep connection and a sense of fulfillment we never want to leave, but we may always return.  God will take us to new places, with new ways to embrace us and new people for us to embrace.  It is like a Waltz where God leads and we follow.  The ultimate goal of healing is waltzing with God!

~ by pastormc on February 25, 2009.