HEALING IS A PROCESS
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as
your soul prospers...3 JOHN 1:2
In this Scripture passage, John is not only praying for the brethren to prosper
well in God's provisional material things in this world, but also to prosper in
the good health of body, mind and Spirit...but most importantly along with
the good health of our souls...
Most Christians understand the importance of a healthy soul needed for
eternal life...Paul tells us in Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God...In coming to Christ, we have all experienced how falling
from Grace endangers the overall good health of our soul, therefore,
a Spiritual healing treatment of Repentance and Forgiveness is needed to
restore our souls back to good health...The Psalmist David experienced a
Spiritual Health Crisis in his life when he fell from Grace and needed healing
for his soul...He recorded this treatment in Psalm 51:10-12...Create in me a
clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me...Do not cast me
away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me...Restore
to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit...
Being separated from God by his sin, David's afflicted soul affected the
overall good health of his body, mind and Spirit as well...For David, Healing
Was a Process that took time for complete healing and restoration to take
place...Once David repented, God forgave him and in time, God's Healing
Process restored all he had lost in body, mind and Spirit...
I was inspired to write this article by a devotional reading below that was sent
to me by my joint outreach ministry partner Miriam in Africa during a Health
Crisis I was facing having to endure two major surgeries inside of a few days
of each other in June of 2017...Although we share daily devotionals, I believe
this one was prompted by the Holy Spirit through her to minister to me in
perfect Divine timing to strengthen my faith and encourage me with the
words I needed to hear as I struggled daily through my healing process...
Our physical bodies when afflicted with illness or injury can also affect our
overall good health of body, mind and Spirit...From 1 Corinthians 12:20,26
But now indeed there are many members, yet one body....Vs.26) And if one
member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored,
all the members rejoice with it...Vs.26 clearly reveals what David had to go
through to receive complete healing...Once his soul was healed, his body,
mind and Spirit that had suffered along with it, was now rejoicing with it...
David wasn't the only one who was affected by his fall from grace in body,
mind and Spirit...David was king so everyone around him, the people, the
body of Christ, also suffered..."If one member suffers, all the members suffer
with it;"
The same holds true when one or more parts of our body is afflicted with a
physical illness, injury or facing a health crisis : " if one member suffers, all
the members suffer with it; "...The total body is affected if even only one part
of the body is afflicted...but over time as the body begins to heal itself day by
day, and we start to feel better then : " if one member is honored, all the
members rejoice with it "...meaning, once that afflicted part going through the
Healing Process starts to feel better or is healed, the entire body rejoices in
in feeling better too...
Read this wonderful devotional below on how the Bible describes and
explains that Healing is a Process as God designed it to work in our Temple
and you will receive a true, Scriptural understanding on how God works to
heal us...
From 1 Corinthians 6:19,20 Or do you not know that your body is the temple
of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God,and you are not
your own? Vs.20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are God’s...
Healing Is A Process
Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will follow those who believe...18) They will
lay hands on the sick, and they will recover...
A major misconception is thinking that all healing must be instantaneous...
The truth is that healing is a process evolving over time...
Sometimes it is quickened up, but not usually...If you have ever cut your
finger or scraped your knee, even though the body immediately begins the
healing process, you know how healing normally works...It takes time...
God uniquely designed the human body in such a way to always heal
itself...Unless there is some lack of nutrition or some hindering force, the
human body will always heal...And God's power can always bring healing,
regardless of any lack or hindrance...
James 5:15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise
him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven....James does not
say the sick will always be raised up instantly...Just that they will be raised...
In other words, they will recover...
All healing both Spiritual and physical is a process that happens over time
as you continually improve...With God, healing can sometimes be so
quickened up that to us it seems almost instant, but this is not the normal
way God’s healing works...Yes I'm quite certain Almighty God could just
say the word and we'd be healed...Miracle healings happen every day...
But Jesus taught us that God’s Kingdom works like a seed planted in the
ground which grows and produces over time (Matthew 13:31).
The important thing is what God’s Word promises is the end result, not
how long it takes...Many people who have not understood that healing from
God is a process involving time, have chosen to give up on their faith when
they're answer to prayer did not have an instant miracle recovery result...
Patience and trust in God is a learned virtue over time in our faith walk...It is a
Scriptural error in thinking to believe otherwise...God chooses how and
when He will heal us...Sometimes God will use someone for His glory for our
healing to take place, like a knowledgeable doctor for a correct diagnosis and
treatment or a gifted surgeon who can repair the damage to our body...
Don’t allow the enemy to steal from you and rob you of the joy of God's
healing power through this wrong thinking what God's Word promises to us
and what Jesus paid for you on the Cross to have!...The Bible tells us that
healing is ours, ( By His stripes we are healed Isaiah 53:5 ) because Jesus
paid for it... Peter confirms this in 1 Peter 2:24...But the Bible never says we
will all receive healing instantly...Sometimes it can be very quick — and we
know it is a miracle...Other times it can take awhile, but no matter how long it
takes, we have the promise of God that healing is ours, giving us Divine
assurance that we will be healthy and whole!...( 3 John 1:2 )
Although many were, not all the healings of Jesus during His ministry on
earth were instantaneous...Mark 8:22-25 is an account of Jesus ministering to
a blind man...After Jesus laid hands on the blind man he could see men like
trees, walking." In other words, he could see, but not very well...Only when
Jesus laid hands on him again did his sight become clear...Although a long
period of time was not involved, it does show a healing that was a process —
not instantaneous....
More Scripture examples:
Luke 17:12-19 NKJV
Ten lepers who were healed "as they went." Healing was not manifest while
they were in Jesus’ presence, but only after they left Him...So when He saw
them, He said to them, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And so it was
that as they went, they were cleansed...
John 9:6-7 NKJV tells of another healing involving some time...When He had
said these things, He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva; and
He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 7 And He said to him,
“Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which is translated, Sent). So he went and
washed, and came back seeing.
John 4:52 NKJV mentions a time "when he began to get better" indicating a
process of recovery...Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better...
And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”...
In this case, the delayed reaction healing was intended to bring glory to God
that the servant would be healed as Jesus told the Centenarian soldier he
would be because of his faith...but it wasn't instantaneous but the soldier
believed what Jesus told him out of faith...
Comfort in Suffering
2 Corinthians 1:3,4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4) who comforts us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with
the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
So never accept that healing is not God's will just because it does not happen
instantaneously...Because we are God's most precious creation, created in
His image and likeness, our Heavenly Father is always working on our behalf
for our good health for He loves and cares for us !
Believe this: Healing is a process !!!
Remember this:The important thing is what God’s Word promises is the end
result, not how long it takes...