Healing & Wholeness

From despair to sunshine

This year on my Radio Horeb programs, I am focusing on inner healing through the Holy Spirit. In the Bible God promises to heal our wounds, yet many Christians do not know how to go to Jesus for healing.

I am re-posting a blog about how my husband Gerald received inner healing over 20 years ago. Here is his story:

“I was in a situation where I felt very disconnected from the people I was with, people who were very close to me. That evening I prayed and asked the Lord what my problem was. A thought came to me: ‘I lack the emotional resources.’ Immediately I knew this was true: I was unable to connect with other people. I felt emotionally isolated from them; I wanted to relate but didn’t know how.

Root problem revealed

When I asked the Lord to show me the root of this problem, I sensed a shadowy picture of my mother crying―over the death of my new-born brother. I knew that she had been in depression for many months after the death of her baby. For some months I prayed about this memory and asked the Lord to heal me.

One day I asked Judith and friends to pray and minister to me. During this healing event, the Lord took me back to this same memory: My mother has her back to me, agonizing over the death of her 5-day-old son. She is crying and extremely sad. I felt overwhelmed and cried out, ‘I don’t know what to do. Somebody needs to help her, but I don’t know what to do.’

Jesus comes into the memory

In the middle of the pain, we invited Jesus to come into this painful memory and heal me. I saw Jesus sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing with my toys! He smiled and beckoned me to come to Him. When I went over and sat on His lap, He comforted me as a Father would comfort his child. It felt so wonderful, reassuring. The thought came to me: ‘I do not have to do anything. It isn’t my job to do anything to fix my mother.’

Freed from an inner vow

In the next few weeks the Lord continued working with this traumatic experience. At one point, I saw that I had made an inner vow at that time: I would never care about the pain of others. If I couldn’t help them, then I would not care. In another healing moment, I was in a room filled with black despair and suddenly Jesus came and grabbed my hand, and we ran out into the sunshine. The heaviness was gone, and I felt free!

For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Col 1:13-14).

Freed from four lies

In those few weeks, I was freed from four lies: 1) I am powerless. 2) I don’t know how to help others who are emotionally upset; 3) I don’t care about the pain of others; 4) life is full of despair and hopelessness.

Since Jesus healed my wounded soul, I have been aware of feeling much more connected to others. I feel comfortable in situations where I had previously felt withdrawn, and in general I sense a new self confidence and assurance. In groups I now feel emotionally connected in a new way, I am more open to people, and I possess the emotional resources appropriate to each situation.”

What is inner healing?

Former priest, Francis MacNutt explained: “Jesus, who is the same yesterday, today and forever, takes the memories of our past and heals them from the effects of those emotional wounds that still remain and affect our daily lives. He can fill with His love all those places in us that have so long been empty. He can give us the grace to forgive past hurts and resentments.

“We can ask Jesus Christ to go back to the time when the hurt occurred and free us from the effects of that wound that still remain in the present. This involves two things: bringing to light the things that have hurt us and then praying to the Lord to free us from the binding effects of our hurtful past.”

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. (John 5:39).

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