Hope and Healing

Jesus said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe, and she will be healed.” — Luke 8:50

I am prone to lose hope. As a father of five children, I desire to see them all well adjusted and hungry for Christ. What happens when one of them wanders? The waywardness of a son is a deep grief. My wife and I have sought to love him, bring the gospel to him, and find resources to aid him in his struggles, but we have been met with deceit, distrust, and dangerous behavior. At night, he has risen from bed and vandalized the house, endangering us all. I am prone to fear. After seven years of heart-wrenching struggle, I cry out, “How long, O Lord?” I am prone to lose hope.

Do you believe that Christ can mend? Jairus’s daughter was dead, yet Jesus said, “She will be healed.” Not even the dead are beyond the reach of our Great Physician. No loss, no grief, no tragedy is beyond the power of Christ to restore, to console, to mend. Do your fears
steal away your sleep? Think on Him in the watches of the night. Does your heart ache with unbearable loss? This, too, will be healed. Jesus hears our griefs and knows them well, and He gives His sure words of comfort: “Don’t be afraid.”

~ CALEB

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Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged. — 1 Chronicles 22:13

There was a time in my life when strep throat was the worst-case scenario. I was a seven-year-old girl who adored school and hated doctors, especially doctors who wanted to ram oversized Q-tips down my throat.

My younger brother held the same opinion about strep, but for him it was the antibiotics. I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to flavor the already-terrible children’s medicine with sweetened hot-pink syrups, but my brother, who didn’t like desserts anyway, wasn’t fooled. So when sickness season came around and a nurse tried to soften the diagnosis with promises of “pink bubblegum!” and “strawberry milkshake!” we cried in unison.

One winter night the situation was especially bleak. We had
the misfortune of not one, but two cases of strep throat. My brother resisted the prescribed medicine like a champ, pulling out just the right number of tears and kicks to send our family’s dinnertime peace into an immediate nosedive.

“You’ll love the pink bubblegum!” my parents pleaded.

“Your favorite — strawberry milkshake!” they tried, knowing it was false.

He needed backup. Enter yours truly, his seven-year-old sister, to the rescue. I jumped into the middle of the spat, motioning for him to climb on my back. Piggybacked and void of socks, jackets, or plans, I opened the door and whispered, “We’re running away. I won’t let them get you.” We ran out the back door and into the woods, only to abandon our plans and return home after hearing the first noise we couldn’t identify.

I hated my little brother’s pain and wanted to help him find comfort as soon as possible. But finding temporary comfort wasn’t the same thing as healing.

God doesn’t like our pain either, but His plan for us is better than our just escaping it.

He wants to heal us and redeem us, providing each of His children with an active hope and eternal comfort. But we can’t always see the ways He’s doing this, and many times we may wonder
if we’re still on His agenda at all. This is why we need strength and courage too — to bridge the gap between hurt and healed.

God tells us to be strong and courageous because He knows we will want to listen to the pain rather than to His promises. He knows we will want to find our own solutions and escape routes, and He understands we will struggle to trust His plan is good when it feels anything but. Our fear is not a surprise to Him, which means He has anticipated it and prepared for it with the gift of His Word. Because of these promises, we can be brave.

~ KAITLIN

Excerpted with permission from The Book of Comforts by Caleb Faires, Rebecca Faires, Kaitlin Wernet, Cymone Wilder, copyright Caleb Faires, Rebecca Faires, Kaitlin Wernet, Cymone Wilder.

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Your Turn

Jesus longs to bring you comfort and healing. His plan for you is good and will be for your good. Be strong and courageous, friend! Believe! Come share your thoughts on Jesus’ healing. We want to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily