Remembering You are our healer, as we suffer

Lord Jesus,

We’re remembering You are our healer this week. When you walked this earth, You brought physical healing as mercy (Mt. 20:30) and with pity (Mt. 20:34). You did this to show people that You were indeed God who has authority over all (Mk. 2:1-10; Lk. 4:31-37; Rom. 13:1, Eph. 1:22).

You are God.

You do have authority over all. 

We praise You that, through Your sinless life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection, we can know Your word is true:

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me (Mt. 28:20 ESV). 

We know that You are raised from the dead, right now seated by Your Father of glory, at His right hand (Heb. 12:2) in the heavenly places,

Help us to trust Your healing work

You compassionately healed many when multitudes clamored for miracle healings…and yet You only healed some. Instead of healing Lazarus, You let him die. And You wept hot tears, hating death and the ache of grief that comes with it. Then You created Lazarus anew when You called him out of the tomb (John 11).

Lord, You had a far greater purpose than instant physical healing. Help us remember this when we’re reeling from symptoms or agonizing for You to heal someone who is. Help us to trust Your healing work.

Sometimes, You were supposed to move on to other towns to preach the gospel instead of healing people (Mk. 1:35-39). Sometimes You healed people without their even asking for it (Lk. 13:10-13). Once, You walked to a pool crowded with chronically ill people and chose to heal only one of them (Jn. 5:1-17).

What do we do with these clearly different varieties of Your actions, remembering You and who You are?

What do we do when the enemy lies and tells us that Your current lack of healing somehow indicates that You’re angry with us, You’ve forgotten us, that there’s something wrong with our faith, or even that You’re cruel? What a wretched accuser. Help us, Lord Jesus, for You personally know this horrific temptation and the despair it brings.

Remembering You suffered…for me

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth (Is. 53:7 ESV).

Man may trouble and distress me,
’twill but drive me to thy breast;
life with trials hard may press me,
heav’n will bring me sweeter rest.
O ’tis not in grief to harm me
while thy love is left to me;
O ’twere not in joy to charm me,
were that joy unmixed with thee.

(“Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken,” Lyte, H.F., 1825)

Remembering You are the healer of our sin

He poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors (Is. 53:12 ESV).

To this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps…

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Pet. 2:21, 24-25 ESV).

Hasten on from grace to glory,
armed by faith and winged by prayer;
heav’n’s eternal day’s before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
hope soon change to glad fruition,
faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Remembering You give me sufficient grace as I suffer

Just as with the thorn Paul dealt with, a “thorn given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from being conceited,” the thorn he “pleaded with the Lord about…that it should leave me,” Your gentle answer reminds us too: 

Oh Lord, it can feel impossibly hard. You know. So, help us to trust You for Your sufficient grace and perfecting power, in every moment of need. As we ask You to fix our broken bodies and keep trying various treatments, sometimes You still say “no” or “wait” because it’s not Your perfect will to heal our bodies right now.

If You didn’t answer this way, no believer would ever be healed by death’s passage into eternal life with You in our true home. By Your wounds, this is our glorious healing, a blessed comfort as we miss those You’ve healed in this way. Oh Lord, help us as we remember You are our healer. Help us to bring every anguish to You as we deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow You (Lk. 9:23), by Your abundant and amazing grace that gives us this trust in You.

Jesus, I my cross have taken,
all to leave and follow thee;
destitute, despised, forsaken,
thou from hence my all shalt be.
Perish ev’ry fond ambition,
all I’ve sought or hoped or known;
yet how rich is my condition,
God and heav’n are still my own.

Remembering You do miraculous healing work in our hearts, as we suffer

In our earthly years of non-body-healing and the heavy discouragement it can bring, help us to rest in the gospel truth that You endured horrific suffering, willingly, obediently, sinlessly, in perfect love for us. And now, You’re giving us all-sufficient grace and Your own power to deal with this suffering, a miraculous and mighty power through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. You are indeed perfecting us through this cross, conforming us more and more to Your image (Rom. 8:29) until we see You, Lord Jesus Christ.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Gal. 3:20 ESV).

Take, my soul, thy full salvation,
rise o’er sin and fear and care;
joy to find in ev’ry station
something still to do or bear;
think what Spirit dwells within thee,
what a Father’s smile is thine,
what a Savior died to win thee:
child of heav’n, shouldst thou repine?

In Your powerful, perfecting, healing name, Jesus Christ, amen.

Material adapted from Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle, © 2022

Resources for suffering sisters in Christ

As we remember our Suffering Servant, who wore our thorns upon His brow, He empowers us by His sufficient grace when He doesn’t remove our thorns.

Sister in Christ, Jesus knows our pain so intimately. Let’s turn to Him. Let’s sing to Jesus who suffered so much, in deep love for us.

As a former music therapist and forever-church musician, I’ve professionally curated a playlist of songs to help us both remember the cross and turn to Him in worship, as we suffer. If this might bless you too, sign up today and it will come to your email. Praying any of the resources below might be His gift to help you endure your suffering with our hope in Christ.