The One Who Heals

Prayer-Soldier · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 8:50 pm Post subject: The One Who Heals

The One Who Heals

Scripture:

Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. (Isaiah 35:4-7a)

My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory with respect of persons. For if there shall come into your assembly a man having a golden ring, in fine apparel, and there shall come in also a poor man in mean attire, and you have respect to him that is clothed with the fine apparel, and shall say to him: Sit you here well; but say to the poor man: Stand you there, or sit under my footstool: Do you not judge within yourselves, and are become judges of unjust thoughts? Hearken, my dearest brethren: has not God chosen the poor in this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God has promised to them that love him? (James 2:1-5)

And again going out of the coasts of Tyre, he came by Sidon to the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. and they bring to him one deaf and dumb; and they besought him that he would lay his hand upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, he put his fingers into his ears, and spitting, he touched his tongue: And looking up to heaven, he groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke right. And he charged them that they should tell no man. But the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it. And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He has done all things well; he has made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. (Mark 7:31-37)

Reflection:

The world is a wondrous place with splendor and beauty, but it is also a place where the seductions of evil have been allowed to enter. Through the choices of the children of His creation, injustice roams. We may attempt to face it by ourselves or we have the choice to turn to Him. Though evil may have its day in bringing forth darkness and anguish, the One who created us will be our protector if we reach out to Him and accept Him within our hearts.

Here, in this space and time, we receive a glimpse of our eternity. All which is good comes from Him. All which is evil comes when we are without Him. The day will come where He will separate the good from evil. If we choose to be with Him, we shall receive all the goodness of His kingdom where evil is not allowed to follow and the anguish of the world shall be left behind.

To prepare us for the day He gathers us in, He calls us to care for one another. If we are to fulfill His commandments of love, we must learn to set aside the ways of the world which are designed to separate us from Him and raise divisions and conflicts among the children of His creation.

It is the way of people to seek position and stature, for we desire respect of those who cross our path. What we often forget is that He calls us to respect others before ourselves (John 13:12-15), for in so doing, we share first in love. He calls us to humility, for within our humility, we avoid the temptations of arrogance by which we are tempted to overlook or ignore the less fortunate. It is through humility we avoid the temptation to impose ourselves in oppressive ways.

Our fortunes do not always reflect what is within our hearts, for the wealthy may become corrupt or are tempted to believe their fortune is only of their making. They do not see His hand in their lives or the evil which seduces them. The poor do not always receive their position within the world from their making, for we are all vulnerable to the choices of others. Still, there is One who holds the poor and less fortunate in high esteem, for each one is a child of His creation.

Our path is magnified by our heart. The wealthy may be comfortable, but happiness may elude them when the void of darkness fills their soul. The poor may struggle, but happiness may be theirs when they seek Him in prayer. It is His Spirit which heals the soul and protects us against the emptiness of the world. It is for this reason the poor may be found rejoicing while the rich wander in despair.

We are a people of senses, therefore, we often interpret that which surrounds us by what we see and hear; yet we often fail to listen, we often fail to observe that which is beyond us. So that the people might understand, Jesus walked among them, healing their afflictions. The people crowded around Him to seek His compassion. It was the first step of their faith in Him, but many failed to see the greater healing which was possible through Him, the healing which comes through the forgiveness of our sins; the healing of our soul.

We might be tempted to ask, why did He not heal all who are afflicted? Certainly, as the Son of God, that is within His power. The answer is that there is something we may need to learn from our afflictions. We may learn that though our position may or may not be of our making, we may choose what we make of our position. We may choose to suffer as the world would have us suffer or we may reach out to Him for courage, strength and healing.

We must also observe that all who were healed were healed through their faith in Him. It is through our faith that our eyes and ears may be opened so that we shall see and hear the gospel which tell us of the glorious day when all afflictions of the faithful shall be healed so that we may leave behind all pain and anguish as we enter His holy kingdom.

May the peace and blessings of the Lord be with you always,
Prayer Soldier