Read His Words Before Ours!
Mark 7:31-37
John 9
Hebrews 11:1
James 5:14-16
“Jehovah Rapha, Jehovah Rapha, my healer, my healer, have mercy on me.”
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, cried out towards Jesus as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples. While many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, he raised his voice once again, and with the same tenacious spirit he spoke, “Jehovah Rapha, my healer, have mercy on me.”
Bartimaeus had faith that Jesus wasn’t just going to walk by him, but that He was going to heal him of his blindness.
When Jesus stopped, he told the disciples to call him, and within an instant, Bartimaeus had thrown off his cloak and came to Jesus. Many of us know the story. Bartimaeus asked Jesus to allow him to recover his sight, and Jesus spoke to him:
“Go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
A moment later, he received his sight and followed Jesus.
Almost everyone in the Bible that Jesus healed demonstrated their faith first.
The leper knelt before Jesus asking if he would heal him, Jesus did, and the man went and showed the people what He had done.
The Centurion’s Servant felt unworthy, but Jesus proclaimed He had never seen such faith.
The woman with the issue of blood just wanted to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment, and with her faith, she was healed instantly.
The paralytic man could not make his way in through the door to see Jesus, so four men lowered him through the roof and through his faith he was healed and his sins forgiven.
My pastor remarked one Sunday, ‘You see, every time we try and go before God with our lives seemingly together, protocol is broken.’
Jesus isn’t looking for perfect people, He is looking for you, just as you are, my friend. He wants us in a raw and vulnerable state so that He may overwhelm us in the best way possible, allowing Him to whisper the truth of who He is in our ear. And He wants us full of faith.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve felt closest to God while my hair has been in a bun, makeup has been cried off, and spit up is covering my shirt, yet the only thing I’m asking for in that moment is more of Him. And I wholeheartedly believe that He will meet me in my need.
Maybe not exactly how I want, but He will indeed meet me and He will most assuredly bring healing.
Chris Quilala wrote a song shortly after he and his wife, Alyssa, lost their son at 33 weeks. I read their story and cried out before God asking for a miracle on their behalf. Raise him from the dead, allow them to experience peace like never before, show off, Jehovah Rapha!
And while the prayers on a surface level weren’t answered, God knew what He was doing and has continued to work through their son’s life, even as he isn’t here on earth. He is still their Healer God because sometimes, what most needs healing, are our hearts.
I listened to Miracles, while I was in the hospital with my daughter on bed rest, and even right before she was delivered.
The One who made the blind to see
Is moving here in front of me
The One who made the deaf to hear
Is silencing my every fear
I believe in You, I believe in You
You’re the God of miracles
The One who does impossible is
Reaching out to make me whole
The One who put death in its place
His life is flowing through my veins
Our friend, Bartimaeus, was healed from blindness, and Quilala’s song beautifully points us to another man desperate for Jehovah Rapha. Jesus had met a deaf man by the Sea of Galilee who was unable to hear, and had a speech impediment, yet his friends begged Jesus to heal him. Jesus moved him to a quiet spot, placed his fingers in his ears, and spit on his hands, placing them on his tongue. He looked up towards His Heavenly Father, and within an instant, the man’s ears were open, his tongue was released, and he could speak clearly.
Just like these two handicapped men, and every other hurting body that sought Christ for healing, all the broken areas in your life are an opportunity for Jesus to adjust your gaze to see Him.
No, God doesn’t always heal the way we want, but with faith, He will use every wound to bring healing to our souls.
Our brokenness is meant to point us to God.
Our healing comes in lifting eyes of faith to One who brings sight to the blind, makes the lame leap, and looses the tongue of the mute!
Lift your eyes to Jehovah Rapha!
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