The Healer

We serve a God who has unlimited capability, and desires to express His love toward us and His presence through us. Psalm 103 addresses how we reflect the glory of God through dependence on Him:
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

There are benefits from serving the Lord - we know that He has saved us, so we have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  We also know that if we walk in His ways, there is potential for mental soundness, for emotional wholeness, and even the capacity for physical wellness. He wants to bring order into our lives, and it comes through our willingness to surrender to Him and allow His goodness to be expressed in and through us.

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When the goodness of God is released into a person's life, that can affect every area of his or her being. There certainly can be a trajectory toward mental and emotional wholeness, as well as even physical benefits. 1st Thessalonians chapter 5 states:
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
23 Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
24 He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.

Tom Edwards is a physician who has spent time on the mission field, along with his family. They had served in Africa in the Ivory Coast and returned to the United States. Dr. Edwards says, "When God called us back to the United States after finishing our mission work, my heart’s desire was to do the same thing in the U.S. that we had done in Africa. I wanted to be a medical missionary in the States."

That's according to an article at The Christian Heart website, which traces the history of the Hope Health Center, which is located in Birmingham, in Fairfield, on the western side of the city. It was founded in 2003, and has added another doctor, a counselor, and an optometrist along the way. He writes, "We are now a full-service medical clinic surrounded by a tremendous staff and group of loving volunteers. It is truly the body of Christ reaching out to this impoverished area."

Several years ago, WBRC Television featured the work of Hope Health Center. It noted that of the patients who come to the clinic, "85% of them are receiving government aid or are uninsured and many are elderly or disabled."  The story goes on to say:

Dr. Edwards says it is his faith that led him to Fairfield. He explains, “It’s not a simple life. It’s hard at times but there’s a deep contentment and peace and even a joy in that. It’s something the world doesn’t give and it truly is, as we are made in Gods image, that it truly is better, more blessed to give than to receive.”

Sometimes the waiting room is filled with broken lives looking for hope. They find it in The Hope Health Center which relies on donations to cover half the costs. Dr. Edwards relies on his faith even when his patients' stories break his heart. “Sometimes I cry. I could cry right now. It does it breaks your heart but I’m open to that. I want them to break my heart because I want to feel and care about them that way and that’s God working through me.” He says, "It’s frustrating. It’s hard but in the end, we see the Lord is working. We see him working on our patients but we see him even more working on us.

Last week, I addressed the concern that our Heavenly Father has for the entirety of the individual: as 1st Thessalonians 5 relates, "spirit, soul, and body," and I contend that there is a relationship between the spiritual component of our lives and other areas, including the body and the mind. Edwards says: "Hope Health Center was started so that, like Jesus’ examples in the Gospels, we could address both the physical and spiritual needs of those who come to us. Our mission is to share the hope found in Jesus Christ while providing excellent whole-person healthcare to a very medically underserved community."

He adds:

When I read the Bible, I love the personal encounters people had with Jesus and how He would heal them. Often, they would be brought to Him and laid at His feet. He would bend down, touch them, and talk with them eye to eye. He made them feel seen, heard, and valued. And that’s what we try to do in our clinic. We’re not a big medical practice where patients are shuffled in and out according to a set amount of time. We want to take time to listen and to counsel. As a result, patients often pour out their heart to us. We pray with every single patient every time they come in. Jesus is the healer, not us.

Tom Edwards has a call from God, and he relates that during his medical residency, he came to a point of discouragement and surrendered his life totally to the Lord, and He directed the doctor to be a medical missionary.  We can ask the question: what is God calling me to do?  

We can also consider what makes us tick, from what do we receive satisfaction?  That can be through our occupation, but not necessarily, as a recent Meeting House guest pointed out.  We can be devoted to pursuing the place where God wants us to be.

If we surrender the entirety of who we are to Christ, we will see Him move in incredible ways - but He works through empty vessels: empty of ourselves so we can be filled with Him.

Again, we can draw a straight line between spiritual and physical wellness.  That doesn't mean that spiritual maturity guarantees perfect physical health, but it is worth wondering how our physical health might be positively or negatively affected by the condition of our spirit.  That also goes for mental and emotional well-being.