Jehovah Rapha: The Lord Who Heals…Everyone I know, I mean everyone I know really well, is wounded.  I have friends and loved ones who have chronic medical conditions (which wound the body and discourage the spirit); I know women with eating disorders and anxiety and depression and OCD; I know recovering and active alcoholics and the families that limp along through life with them; I know people who have been victims of physical or sexual abuse and I know people who struggle with anger; I know people who are wounded by the dysfunctional family they grew up in and I know those who have lost their jobs, their marriages, and their loved ones…what I don’t know is how any of us could go through this fallen life and not experience some sort of loss of wholeness.

I fit into more than one of the categories above myself, and it took me many many years to understand that God is the only source of real comfort and relief for our pain.  He is the only one who will not change, like shifting shadows (James 1:17).  He does not leave us nor forsake us (Deut. 31:6).  He always loves, always forgives, and always wants what is best for us and His Kingdom. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2Peter 3:9).  The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love (Ps 103:8). I love to think of Him walking beside me and providing comfort and peace.  But Jehovah Rapha is more than a comfort, He is a solution.  In medicine you have palliative treatment (like taking a Tylenol when you have arthritis) – this type of care does not provide any resolution but makes the patient more comfortable; and you have definitive treatment (like taking an antibiotic for strep throat or having a surgery to repair a broken bone) – this type of care is intended to resolve the problem. Whether we are in need of physical, mental or spiritual healing, God provides for us both palliative and definitive care.

KA reminds us that we are to be God’s ambassadors of reconciliation (p. 71).  God’s Word tells us that we are blessed in order to be a blessing to others (Gen. 12:2).  He has given us so much, but He doesn’t want us to pay it back to Him, He wants us to pay it forward to others.  So we must first go to Him for the healing we need, and then share the Good News with everyone we know.  The old saying goes, if you found the cure for cancer would you keep it to yourself because you were embarrassed to share it, or didn’t have time, or didn’t feel like you were “gifted” in that area?  We have found the cure for a cancer that eats away at the soul and we must pass the message on to others – Jehovah Rapha wants to heal His children:  “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matt 7:9-11).

JustaGirl…just like you!