In the Bible, wherever Jesus was there too was healing.
In His presence, demons fled in fear. There was death, but in His presence, death became life. There were blind men and lepers, but in His presence, men could see and became clean. In today’s world, we think we’d like to go back to the time period when Jesus was around performing miracles…but the thing is, that’s still today.
It wasn’t the physical body of Christ that did the healing, for that was his fully human side and we know that the body/flesh is of this world and temporary. What matters is our spirit, and in the presence of Christ’s Spirit, the power that arose is what did the healing (fully God). So today, we have that presence–not physically in human form, but in our hearts with the Holy Spirit. We also have it in prayer when we enter into communion with the presence of God.
We have the presence, now we just need to have faith in the power that’s there. I know this is hard because we cannot see it as people used to be able to when seeing Jesus. But Hebrews 11:1 says that “Faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us to “fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” Faith is hard, but it’s that ultimate leap to trust that which we cannot see. We move forward in faith because we know and trust the truth God speaks over what we see or feel.
So, knowing that God can (and does) still heal and perform miracles, where do we go from here? We go to my main thought, the message that God wants you to hear. But more specifically, we flip to John 5.
In John 5, Jesus happens upon a pool where disabled people (blind, lame, paralyzed) would go to be healed. Jesus stops in front of a man who had been invalid for 38 years and asks “Do you want to get well?” Now, imagine what you’re thinking if you’re this man who has been disabled like this for his whole life — I mean, what kind of question is that? In response, the man goes into excuses for why he hasn’t been healed yet (verse 7). But Jesus doesn’t linger on those excuses, instead he tells the lame man to “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” By faith, the man does just that and is healed and set free.
I understand that this was a physical disabilities needing healing, and if that is your situation today, let me encourage you to keep praying and having faith knowing that He will heal in his time. Those two are important: to pray (James 4:2) and have faith in what you ask (Mark 11:24).
But what if, like most of us, what needs healing for you is mental. Addiction, depression, eating disorder, anxiety, loneliness, guilt, worry. Lacking joy, feeling bad about circumstances, mental battles in recovery, negative thoughts, etc. One example of this in the Bible is when Jesus calls out demons from a man and sends them into a herd of pigs (Luke 8: 26-39).
Yes, Christ heals all. But the thing is, it’s not all-or-nothing. Physical healing, it is more all-or-nothing. You can’t really be half-dead or half-alive, paralyzed, etc. With mental struggles, you aren’t going to suddenly wake up one day 100% transformed, having done a complete 180. You aren’t going to suddenly go from depression to abounding joy, eating disorder to full recovery, mental thoughts about food to never having a single one of those thoughts again. I’m not saying you won’t get there, but it won’t be overnight.
And it definitely won’t be from us just sitting around doing nothing yet expecting healing. You see, God also calls us to get up, pick up our mat and walk. But when we don’t see complete healing, we think this can’t be right, I’m not healed therefore I will continue with the mental battles I am facing. We don’t realize God always has more (see Mark 8:22-26).
We choose to stay where we are rather than go to where God has called us. And that’s probably because where He is calling us is scary and unknown, so fear starts to creep in, and we take control rather than depend on God by faith. In other words, we are more comfortable in the chains of slavery without God than the unknown of freedom with Him.
But the thing is, God isn’t calling you to remain the same. Yes, He has a timing and healing won’t always nor often be immediate. But when He does call to you, it’s not to stay the same. It’s not to stay spiritually dead or paralyzed in your battle(s). It’s a calling to walk with Him and let Him lead you into healing. God is asking you to trust Him enough to let go of your battles and let God fight them for you.
For me, I still have mental thoughts about food, calories, body image, etc.. But I’m not waiting until those completely go away forever to walk with God and say I’m healed. Instead, I’m believing that one day I will be healed and for now I’m getting up, picking up my mat (mental battles), and walking to and with the One who heals. I’m choosing to trust His plan and depend on Him for my strength to fight. For God fights my spiritual battles with evil spirits, but I must continue facing my giants here on Earth. I fight to actively stop those thoughts as they start; to love myself for who I am in Christ rather than who I’m not on Earth; to choose joy and depend wholly on God.
I’m going into the battles because I know my God fights for me and victory is mine through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. I’m not saying it’s easy, and there are days that I seem to give up on God. Days where I choose to stop, put my mat down, and lay back down. But the great news is that God never gives up on me. He keeps loving me, guiding me, and calling out to me, “Kristyn, get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
So, my question today for you is what is your mat? What battles are you fighting that are holding you down? What is God saying to you today? Because I bet if you truly give it all up and listen, it will sound a lot like this:
“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
