The Holy Spirit Meets Deep Healing Needs

I. The Holy Spirit Does Deep Healing, Bringing Order out of Chaos

Sometimes those who struggle with a chronic illness or disease need deep healing because the pain of mental anguish has turned their world “upside-down.” The first chapter of Genesis seems to speak of such a world.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (verse 1)

“And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (verse 2)

Though Biblical scholars disagree as to the meaning of this verse – did God create the world that way or did it become that way (after the fall of Lucifer)? – one thing seems clear: the world was dark. Little meaning could be seen amid the disarray. But then we read:

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (verse 3)

Then God spoke, “Let there be light,” and there was light. (verse 4)

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God brought order out of chaos. He performed a “deep healing” on a world whose “body parts” were in disarray. The earth was like a lifeless corpse, but He brought order to it, separating light from darkness, waters from waters, and water from dry land.

“and God saw that it was good” (verse 10)

He spoke to the waters and they brought forth living creatures “abundantly” (verse 21). He brought forth many creatures from the earth as well.

“And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (verse 31).

II. Deep Healing For Deep Needs

God did not create the world to break down or become diseased. Everyone and everything was happy and healthy. But then, like the “pestilence that stalks in darkness” (Psalm 91:6), confusion snuck in, taking the form of a serpent. They didn’t see it coming but they felt the plague.

“Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat . . .’ ?”  (Genesis 3:1)

Man ate forbidden fruit. The result: heavy toil, hard labor, and death (Genesis 2:17; 3:16-19; and 3:22-24)

Adam and Eve didn’t die that same day in a physical sense, but death soon took its toll on their family. Their first son Cain acted insane by murdering his brother Abel, thus turning his parents’ world upside-down. No plant-based medicine could heal their aching hearts.

But the Holy Spirit hovered over their darkness, waiting one day to fulfill the promise spoken  in Genesis 3:15 :

“And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

One day Jesus, the “seed of the woman” (not Eve but her natural descendant Mary) would fulfill this promise by bruising the head of the serpent’s seed (meaning Satan, who used the serpent to trick Eve into eating the forbidden fruit – see Revelation 12:9).

“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  (Luke 1:35)

The Holy Spirit is the one who shows us Jesus Christ our healer, the one whose blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel (Hebrews 12:24).

 

 

 

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Afraid to Forgive

Tormented, grieved, forsaken. Oh, what pain he felt inside,

Beset by views of ugly news, from which he could not hide!

He knew he should dismiss past hurts still screaming to avenge

The wrongs that so besieged his heart, but he desired revenge.

 

“It’s closure I must have,” he said. “That is the path to peace.

For only then can I enjoy the fruit of sweet release,

And satisfy the anger which has locked me in this cage.

To free myself from prison, I must first appease my rage.”

 

Such thoughts, like sharp two-edged swords, clashed wildly inside his mind;

Chaotic clangs, with violence tinged, set to a beat unkind.

He did not see the torturers whose pitchforks, dipped in fire,

Stirred coals of shame inside his heart to magnify his ire.

 

“It’s not your fault,” they told him, “for the way they treated you.”

“Your hatred’s justified. Those were such awful things to do!”

But still the guilt kept hounding. He could not escape the blame.

“You too have sinned horrifically, and ridiculed God’s name.”

 

Fear gripped his heart with condemnation he could not ignore.

If God was mad at him, then there was nothing to live for.

He knew he must forgive and must forget but was afraid

That he’d get stolen from again and never be repaid.

 

He didn’t trust the sovereign Lord to care for all his needs,

But bought the lie that debt forgiveness rests upon good deeds,

He said, “I’m doomed to earn my bread by my own toil and sweat,

Let him who owes me foot the bill. Let him repay the debt.”

 

But what a yoke to put upon an ordinary man!

He knew it wasn’t right, and yet he had no better plan.

His blood pressure was through the roof, he wasn’t feeling well.

Then suddenly a light shone in the darkness of his cell.

 

The Son of God was standing there. His glory filled the room.

“I paid your debt in full,” He said. “Why all this gloom and doom?”

“I thought you were a hard man, Sir,” replied the man, amazed.

“I thought I must fend for myself, for that’s how I was raised.”

 

“But now I see it isn’t so. There’s no cause for alarm.

For, though you’re greatly to be feared, you’d never do me harm.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. “All I ask of you is to believe,

In my unfailing goodness trust, and of my grace receive.”

 

“Remember how I shed my blood to wash away your sin.

In me, there’s life. In man, there’s death. Stick with me and you’ll win.”

“Why ask a man to pay you back for all the things he stole,

When, by my stripes, you can be healed?  For I will make you whole.”

 

And the moral of this poem is that forgiveness involves trusting God to pay back what the enemy stole from you, instead of demanding that some fallible human being supply your need. Yes, God can use people to provide for you, but they’re just tools in His hands. Our trust must be in Him, for He alone is faithful to the end.