To be healed means to be restored to health, to be freed from ailment, to be made whole again. When I think of God as a healer, I recall the many Bible stories I listened to over and over again as a young child. Jesus gave sight back to a blind man, He raised Lazarus from the dead, He rebuked the fever ravaging the body of Simon-Peter’s mother-in-law, He cast out demons, and He healed a leper, a bleeding woman, a paralytic, and a soldier. God was in the healing business!
He first reveals Himself as our Healer, Jehovah Rophe, in Exodus 15:26. God makes a promise that if the people obey Him, they will not suffer from the diseases that plague the Egyptians: “For I am the Lord, who heals you.” But, is this the same Lord who lives today? Can we, too, be obedient to His word, active in our faith, devoted and praiseworthy and still receive divine healing? Yes, I believe we can.
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8
Jesus Christ, Jehovah Rophe, our Healer, will never change. He has been and will be the same forever. This is great reassurance as we strive to navigate an ever-changing world. Friends, we can trust our unchanging God!
When He spoke to the Israelites, He wasn’t just addressing their physical needs. He knew their physical, emotional, and spiritual lives were intertwined and that all three needed care and restoration. That is who Jehovah Rophe is today. When we cry out to Him, like Moses, He appears and brings divine healing to all.
Can you think of an example where you have witnessed God’s healing today? Do you know someone who has been healed physically, emotionally, or spiritually? In all honesty, I naively thought healing was specific to physical ailments, a disease, a broken bone. As an adult, however, I have been blessed to personally experience God’s emotional and spiritual healing in my own life; and, I have observed it in those around me. I had to first come to an understanding of what healing looked like before I could identify it in others. Healing is happening, and it is occurring all around us.
“Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4-5
This is a remarkable scripture. Not only does it shed light on Jehovah Rophe, the One who carries all our sicknesses and diseases, the One who calls us to praise Him with deep devotion; but also, it pulls aside the curtain of time to allow God’s people to look ahead to the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness and healing made available to each of us.
Friends, God still heals today. The question we must ask ourselves is, “Are we willing to strengthen and practice our faith in order to be part of His continued kingdom work?” He knows our weaknesses, and He knows it is hard for us to believe what we can’t always see. His gift to us? If we have faith as small as a mustard seed, nothing, nothing, will be impossible for us. (Matthew 17:21)
Where do you need healing the most? Exercise your faith with action by meditating on His living word and praising Him in the good times and in the bad. The greatest work we can do on earth is to bring ourselves and others to the healing power of Jesus Christ.
“Take heart, your sins are forgiven…get up and walk.” (Matthew 9:5)
