The Healing Report

It’s true that some are miraculously healed whilst others languish in the hellish remains of the old life — despite, at times, either their New-Life status or status estranged, still, from God. There is nothing to judge or be envious of, one way or the other, for God’s the one that produces the miracle, not us.

Healing is a mystery.

It sweeps through the body, mind or soul and does its work, independent of what we think or are prepared to do on the subject, though many healings are ‘magically’ assisted by our obedience.

Healing is God’s portent, not ours. Science cannot claim it either. No, God possesses it; the power, whys and wherefores.

Four Types of Healing

There may be other categories of healing, but four broad ones are: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Physical healing, beyond the sinner’s habits, is highly dependent on external help. It’s amazing the correlation between sinful practices and physical effects — for easy instance, poor diet or overeating with obesity — but many physical ailments have nothing whatsoever to do with sin.

Mental healing is a matter of retraining our minds. We all have mental scripts that need to be re-written and programmed in. Changing habits is characteristic of this need.

Emotional healing is about dealing with our past, present and future — in courage — by attending to the baggage-of-bad-experiences that clings, producing guilt and shame. Everyone needs healing at this level. All people have brokenness to deal with.

Spiritual healing is “salvation,” in a word. That is, being reconciled to Father God; in, and through, Jesus Christ our Lord. It’s often the gateway to other healing.

Healing’s Three Results

There are those who are healed instantly — without recourse for further lapsing — those that enter healing, but always have their maintenance work to do, and, finally, those that remain ostensibly unhealed, as they wait patiently (or not) for it to come about.

So far as healing is concerned, there’s a sharp correlation to faith, but it’s not only those with “faith” who are healed; and some with faith are not healed as they’d otherwise like.

Accepting the Phenomenon

The grip we have on many things is tenuous. Life and circumstances can’t be controlled to the extent we’d like to them to be.

Such is healing.

This is why we make such a big fuss about it when it occurs. It’s why it’s miraculous — all of it. In some ways it’s explainable, many ways not.

Add to all this the phenomenon that healing is not just a once-off event, but it’s a story that enfolds us to a history, one with its own bends, climaxes, dips and dramas.

Accepting the phenomenon is health and vitality. There’s no sense in not accepting it. That is, we cannot define or cage this thing, healing.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.

Graphic Credit: Helping Hearts Heal.