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A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
*John 10.10, The Message
Scott Higgins tells the following story...
A few years ago I was horse riding with some friends, when I fell off my horse. Unfortunately I injured more than my pride. I also broke my wrist. After a painful hour long ride back to the ranch I went off to the hospital to have my arm set and plastered. But never having broken a limb before I was concerned when I experienced shooting pain during the following weeks. I asked a good friend about it. He was a nurse. "You’re sure? You’re experiencing shooting pain up the arm?"
"Yes" I replied.
"Gee, you’d better get that checked out. That means there’s something seriously wrong."
My face dropped and after a few moments my friend doubled over in laughter. "There’s nothing wrong with your arm. What you’re feeling is the bones and nerves rejoining. Your pain means your arm is healing."
I have been going through some of the most painful days of my life in the last months. I am weary. I can feel my body tired from the emotional ups and downs, and an almost constant state of uncertainty.
Yet, my wife, Rocio, encourages me, and one way is that she tells me how much I have grown over this time. She tells me that she is proud of me for the courage I am showing, when some other persons would just quit and not put forth the effort. Rocio points out specific areas that I have experienced growth.
This growth is healing. We are each broken in some way. We each need healing. Healing and growth are positive.
I would have assumed earlier in life that with healing positive feelings would be dominant. That is not necessarily the fact. Like the story above, pain can accompany positive transitions that are part of healing.
Anyone who has gone through profound healing in counseling knows of what I speak. We all want healing, but healing can be painful.
Several weeks ago I was taken by ambulance to a hospital. A day after admission, a doctor sat on my bed. He spoke to me about working through our problems. He noted we do not take shortcuts, not persons like "you and me." He knew that I was in the middle of a large problem. He said we look on down the road, say five years.
Healing is a process. Pain may be a positive sign that changes are occurring at deep levels of our psyche and body. Only our spirit is whole. At one time we can be being healed on several other, different levels.
Possibly, knowing that pain is not necessarily a negative sign, but that it can indicate progress, can give us hope. Accepting this can offer us fortitude to trust and endure temporary inner changes that can be difficult but, at the same time, indicate a movement toward wholeness and resolution.
Jesus did come to give us abundant Life. For that to be realized in our whole being requires some joy and trial in healing that in us that is blocking the abundance and the joy of spiritual Life.
Recall, what I have written above applies to groups, not just individuals. I am in a congregation needing healing, needing redirection, needing newness, to experience a new beginning. Sometimes, I notice, persons will quit their church just when this pain of healing begins. At times, they will lose support in their pastor or other leadership during such a painful time. They find the pain that is part of congregational healing to conflict with the popular ~ and self-centered ~ view of church and religion as always happy and comforting.
Yet, this is not in line with the biblical story of baptism: death-resurrection. And it does not agree with the Gospel, wherein Jesus models that we must undergo a death to experience new life ~ resurrection life: this, again, applies both to Christians and churches.
So, possibly, if your church is going through a painful time, you can choose to see that as indication of a coming resurrection. Indeed, sad is the church that becomes so dead to the Spirit and Life that it can no longer feel the pain that foreshadows a new birth, of better times to come.
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1. In what area(s) might God be working to heal you?
2. Are you undergoing any pain that might indicate healing?
3. Are you in a church, relationship, or family experiencing pain that is part of its healing?
4. Suggested prayer of healing for persons [adapt for more than one person] ...
Dear Jesus, I know you want me to be whole. You want me to enjoy Abundant Life. There are areas in my life that block the love, joy, and peace that you want me to receive and share with others. Yet, I cannot receive what you want me to, for I need healing. That means I cannot share to the extent you want me to. I truly what to receive more of you and all you have for me, and bless other persons with that abundance. I am willing to dedicate now to you whatever pain that is part of the healing. Help me to trust you and know for sure that you will not leave me or fail to bring to fulfillment the work of healing. Grace me with patience to take each day, each moment, at a time, and not predict negative things in the future. Help me live fully each moment, and know all is and will be well. Thank you. In Christ, Amen.
To submit your prayer requests, write Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
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*Charitable contributions would be appreciated to assist Brian in the continuance of his work of ministry. For contributions, contact Brian at barukhattah@embarqmail.com .
*Scott Higgins story from www.ozsermonillustrations.com .
*Brian's book of mystical love poetry, An Ache for Union: Oneness with God through Love, can be ordered through major booksellers, or through the Cokesbury on-line store, at www.cokesbury.com .
*Brian K. Wilcox lives in Punta Gorda, FL, and Clearwater, FL, with his wife, step-son, and two beloved dogs. He serves the Christ Community United Methodist Church, Punta Gorda, FL. Brian is vowed at Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in South Georgia. He lives a vowed, contemplative life and inspires others to experience a more intimate relationship with God-in-Christ. Brian advocates for a spiritually-focused Christianity and renewal of the focus of the Church on addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons, along with empathic relating with other world religions, East and West. Brian has an independent writing, workshop, and retreat ministry, for all spiritual seekers.
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