Thursday, December 27, 2012

They Did Not Know I was Their Healer

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is from Hosea and it reads like this:

I drew them with human cords,
   with bands of love;
I fostered them like one
   who raises an infant to his cheeks;
Yet, though I stooped to feed my child,
   they did not know I was their healer.
                                    Hosea 11:4

Do you know that God is your healer? As I look around the world we live in today I see so much suffering in people's eyes. Many don't seem to realize that God is their healer in a very real and personal way. I believe that this is an aspect of God's nature that people don't think about often in this day and age where being self-sufficient is praised and looked upon as a great virtue. I think we forget that we are not a world unto ourselves and that the very self-sufficiency we so praise can at times be our greatest downfall. When we forget that we need others we tend to grow very selfish and overly focused on our own lives and well-being. We lose the greater picture that is reality and sit on our little thrones in the little false worlds we create for ourselves.

Pretenders, the whole lot of us. Imagine if God were to show each and every one of us the truth about ourselves all at once?

Ouch.

Like a universal "divine adjustment". (Hey, never say never.)

Thankfully, we usually get this "divine adjustment" over a period of time.

The truth is that we need others and we need God. Those who believe they can "do it all myself" can, if it goes too far, shut themselves off from God and others. When we close ourselves off in this way we also close ourselves off from the deep interior healing each of us needs. Healing that we need so very much in order to grow spiritually.

Many people aren't even aware that they do need healing. They walk around joylessly, believing that this is a normal state of existence.

It's not.

There's a strange ideology in this age (and an odd one it is if you really think about it): that God doesn't  step into our lives in an extraordinary fashion anymore. I think this manner of thinking is more a byproduct of the age we live in rather than a "truth" we should hold onto. As a matter of fact, if you ask me:

It's ALL extraordinary.

Every darn bit of it.

Every single moment of it.

Every last particle of it.




                                                             God with us

At least...it should be.



10 comments:

  1. Mary, it's so wonderful to see that you are writing again! I missed you here! Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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  2. Sadly, and perhaps unsurprisingly, there are many people who just do not KNOW God.

    The belief that people are self-sufficient and should look after self is prevalent, and encouraged, here in the UK. As a result, we become even more insular and detached from every day reality. And the REAL reality that we are all created by God who wishes to welcome us back into His Kingdom.

    God bless.

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  3. Hi Anne,
    Thank you! Merry Christmas to you and yours too!

    (I am so gullible, aren't I? Wink, wink :)

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  4. Hi Victor,
    How are you? Well, I hope :)

    It's like this in the US too. Self-sufficiency is prized as a great virtue but this is not always the case of course. When it's excessive its source is pride. This pride blocks the grace that would heal us.

    Loved your number joke!

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  5. As someone who re-encountered Christ as healer, I find it hard not to realize this aspect of Him. But as your post shows, we need to admit we need help and healing before we can seek the One who can give it. It seems that people in general know on some level that they need something, but they fail to admit that it is God whom they need. Just walk into any bookstore and look at the growing number of self help books. It is only with humility that we can see and admit that we cannot heal or help ourselves.
    Thanks for the insightful post, Mary.

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  6. Hi Karin,
    That is how I re-encountered Him
    too - I was in dire need of healing before I could have any kind of REAL spiritual life. I depended on myself too much when I was young and didn't learn to rely on God until much later.

    Good point about all the self help books...lol. I read plenty of those when I was younger too!

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  7. Does everyone have ads blocking their dashboards to a degree or is it just me?

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  8. Hi Mary,
    I have awarded you the 2012 Blog of the Year award.
    You seem to be having some quirky things going on on your dasboard~ haven't experienced the ads thing or the question thing either.

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  9. Hi Karin,
    Thank you :)

    Are you serious? I figured it was happening to everyone but I noticed no one knew what I was talking about! Oh well, I've dealt with worst. Thanks for the heads up!

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