Christian Healing - 2 Desperation

Thoughts on Christian Healing continued:

It may sound obvious, but healing cannot really begin unless the ‘wound’ is brought out into the open and shown to Father - and in the case of emotional healing, the pain is owned and expressed.

Usually if a child hurts itself, he or she goes running to their parents and shows their ‘wound’ to them. The child is comforted, the wound bathed and cleaned and made better. There may even be a discussion on how it happened and how to avoid it happening again.

In this simple straight forward action there is an acceptance that something is wrong, a complete trust in the parent that it will be healed and also a degree of desperation.

We sometimes need to get desperate. Like when I crushed my thumb or when a large rock fell on our son’s hand or when my wife developed a life-threatening condition in a foreign country. In each case, mustering whatever faith I had, I reached out to God with every fibre of my being, until I was assured that I had made connection, He had heard and it was in hand. In each case healing was manifest. I believe God always answers our heart cries.

With long term illness it can seem more compicated. But is it possible that sometimes we have to get desperate before we turn to God and really mean business? For some reason we may have been in denial or thought ‘this is as good as it gets.’ We may have tried all medical avenues, followed any number of special diets, dabbled in various alternative practices, but the illness still persists. Do we have to get desperate before we go all the way on a healing journey God's way, no matter what?

More to come - -

“Give praise to the LORD; he has heard my cry for help. Psalm 28:6 Good News Bible

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Child Play

“I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Mark 10:15 GNB

During childhood there’s born in each of us a sense of wonder, beauty and adventure. I discovered however that this spark can be dimmed or submerged under years of daily routine and life’s pressures.

I asked a friend what he would do if given a whole day just for himself. After considerable thought he was stumped for an answer. Another, when asked what he did for recreation, replied that as a Christian he’d died to all that sort of thing! I was puzzled by his reply and felt sad, as I thought I could join him in a common pursuit.

I once made a list of things I really liked doing. Simple things like rowing a boat, paddling in rock pools, messing with paints, playing the piano, flying a kite, blowing the seeds off a dandelion head ... I reached twenty items and as I kept writing, tears began to flow. I had touched in on a need. I hadn’t experienced some of those things since childhood.

I decided to work through the list and hired a mountain bike on the High Peak Trail, a disused rail track in the hills of one of our National Parks. I felt self conscious at first; as a vintage learner with expert youngsters looking on. That was soon forgotten though, as I cycled through a tunnel and rattled through ravines. I paused on a viaduct to admire the panoramic view and was overcome with joy. It was as if Father God, ‘my Daddy’ was smiling with me all the way. It was powerful stuff, helping to rekindle my God-given heart desire.

Your list may be different to mine, but don’t lose the spark from childhood.

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