In the Word: The Lord my Healer
Welcome to Hope Mommies’ In the Word devotionals. Over the next several weeks, we will be looking at different names of God found in Scripture, and how these different aspects of who He is offer us hope in the midst of our grief. As we study together, we encourage you to use the comments as a place to dialogue with us about what you are learning and share your answers to the questions below. We pray that you hearts will be encouraged as you study these names of God along with us!
Jehovah-rophi,: “The Lord My Healer”
“Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing [Jesus], he fell at His feet and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”
Mark 5:22-23
READ:
“I want to encourage you to pray for healing for your daughter.” These were the words of a well meaning friend in an email she sent me just a few days after we found out at our 20 week ultrasound that our first daughter would not live once born. My immediate response to those words were, “I can’t.” What my friend didn’t know at the time was that her encouragement would awaken in my heart deep questions I had of what it meant that God is our healer. My response was a reflection of a heart filled with fear and uncertainty.
What if I believe and prayed God would heal our daughter and He didn’t?
What does it mean that He is the healer?
And what if it doesn’t mean what I want it to mean?
I had never had to penetrate the depth of what it means that God is our healer because it never was a matter of life and death before. I had never felt the weight of Jairus’ words when he fell at the feet of Jesus. But now I did. Now I needed to know what it really meant that my God is a healing God.
I eventually began to pray for healing for my daughter—bringing my fears of what it would mean if He didn’t heal her. As I searched God’s Word to acknowledge my fears, I began to discover the true healing power our God holds.
I wonder if you sit in this space too? Perhaps you are wrestling deeply with what it means that God is a God who heals, and what it means when He doesn’t give the healing you long for. You see, my daughter, unlike Jairus’ daughter, was not healed this side of heaven. I went on to have another child who had the same condition my first daughter did, and she too was not healed this side of heaven. I’ve had to go head first into those painful questions of God’s healing power.
God’s power to heal comes in many forms. He of course can do what we would call the miraculous healing of our bodies from physical pain. But His healing is equally miraculous when He brings joy in the midst of pain and hope in the midst of loss. We often limit His healing power to be only for our physical ailments, we forget that He has healed those who follow Christ from the ultimate disease and consequences of sin. We forget that this power permeates how we walk through suffering—the suffering that He promised we would experience.
It is important to read stories of God healing people from disease and wrestle with what that means for your story—your deep longings and questions. And yet, it is equally important to look at the whole of God’s Word to discover how He speaks of healing both in the present and the future. As you read the passages and answer the questions below, I hope you find them helpful as you continue your own journey of wrestling with what it means that our God is Jehovah-Rophi: The God who heals.
REFLECT:
- According to Mark 5:21-43 what does Jesus reveal about Himself to those who were watching?
- What questions do these stories stir in your heart about God’s healing power?
- What does that mean for you today to know that God heals both in the present and ultimately in the future? (Rev. 21:1-5)
JOURNAL:
Read Isaiah 61:1-3. What does this passage reveal about what the Savior, Jesus Christ, will restore and heal? Make a list of the ways you have experienced God’s healing power. In what areas are you still trusting Him to bring healing? When you do not experience healing in the way you want to, what does 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 remind us to focus our hearts on? Ask God to help you recognize His healing power in your life, even when it does not look the way you wanted it to, and trust that He will always work for your good and His glory.
- Lindsey
Hope Mom to Sophie and Dasah
Hi! I’m Lindsey. I live in Orlando, Florida with my stud of a husband, Kevin. We have four incredible children, Sophie and Dasah who now live with Jesus, Jaden who came into our lives through adoption, and Briella. We have a very energetic golden retriever, and love living in the sunshine state. I get to spend my days loving on my children, investing my life in college students here through a non-profit organization we’re a part of, and when I have time, writing on my blog about the hope that doesn’t disappoint!
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