THROUGH HIS LOVE

I woke up this morning to an extremely painful leg. But I took an Advil, with the promise that the pain should soon lessen. I also knew how good it would be to be able to share with my friends that after all the tests had been done, showing that nothing serious was wrong—the doctor was able to tell me that I must only have pulled a muscle in my thigh. Pain and bruising will continue for a while, but there’s nothing seriously wrong with my leg.

For some reason that I believe only God could explain, a light came on. I began to understand the mystery of how God can help us heal—at least to help us cope with pain—whether emotional or physical. I started jotting down notes in the margins of my sudoku puzzle,  trying to solve the puzzle that I know many must have about the phenomenon of God’s power to heal.

How can it possibly be? How did Jesus heal people, as the gospels show, two thousand years ago? And how can the knowledge of his unconditional love heal us today?

I decided to sit down and try to describe it properly, tried to solve this mystery with words as well as I can-hoping that you too will come to understand. It would be so helpful for all who want to follow Jesus to know.

I have a very kind friend who knows God and does all he can to serve him by bringing God’s love into a world that needs him so very badly. He knows my story and the emotional pain I deal with. He has shown me what God’s love is like, much like Jesus showed God’s love when he walked the Earth. He is what one would call a “Christlike” individual. There aren’t very many like him.

This friend makes himself available to me regularly by responding to emails I send him in the early morning after I’ve spent time with God. When he sits down to his computer, he reads my email and writes a few words in response. Only a few because he’s a busy person. But his words are always well thought out. Always wise and encouraging in some way.

One of my favorite responses from him comes in one word: “Listening.” Even that one word means a lot to me. When a person will take the time to stop a busy life to listen to what’s on my mind, it means he cares and that he hears as God hears—probably quite carefully.

Through my friend’s steadfast kindness, I have seen what God’s never-ending love for me is like. He is an example of how a person who knows God’s love can kindly reach out to a person who needs the knowledge and assurance of that love. And I can see how the person in pain can in that way fully come to realize God’s love—his warmth, and his steadfastness. There’s peace in that knowledge. There’s healing.

Despite the pain I was feeling this morning, the promise of knowing that my friend was waiting in the wings with his kindness did much to make me feel better. And then I found an email in my inbox from a member of my church with her prayers for me and I realized that many have been praying for me because word had gone out to them about my needs. Because of all this I felt enveloped by God’s love for me. I felt the love more than I felt the pain.

I’ve come to realize, more than ever before, the great power of prayer and how God’s love can flow from one person to another through the kindness they show, especially to those in pain. And that’s true for those experiencing emotional pain or physical pain. God’s love comes through the kindness of others—those who make the time to consider others’ needs.

I have never before understood so clearly what power the prayers of others can have in people’s lives. I only did at this time, when I experienced this leg pain—such an unusual thing for me, a person whose pain has mostly been of an emotional nature.

Although I have often felt close to Jesus and found healing through him, I never truly understood the mystery of his healing power through the prayer and kindnesses of others as I do today.

marja