Wait! There's More!
If you watch an infomercial, at some point you'll hear, "Wait, there's more!" They tell you all about a great product that will solve your problems, but maybe you aren't sold on it yet. So wait! There's more!
Healing resources are like that. I've already covered nine in the last few posts. But there are more! God really wants us to experience His healing power, and so He offers us an abundance of resources to help. Here are five more to add to the ones already addressed.
Humility
When we seek healing, we go as beggars. We don't go with demands. Beggars know they are at the mercy of their benefactor. Remember the woman who came to Jesus for the healing of her daughter, who was possessed by a demon? She begged Him for healing, and Jesus told her, "It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." The woman responded by saying, "Even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." And Jesus commended her and told her the demon had left her daughter. It was her humility that brought healing.
We can follow that mother's example and beg God for healing, not because we deserve it. We don't. But because we believe God can do it.
In Matthew chapter 8, a man with leprosy says to Jesus, "If you will, you can heal me." There is both humility and confidence in that statement. It's up to Jesus. The leper must have asked with great faith, knowing it was possible but not sure if Jesus willed it. He did. He said, "I do will it. Be healed."
Humility was foundational in both situations: the mother and the leper.
Love/Charity
Love heals. You can heal if you allow others to love you. You can also heal when you love others. We are healed through love because it helps us overcome our egos. Humans are naturally egocentric. I focus on myself. Sometimes that creates a false reality about my situation, my past, the hurts that keep me in chains. By practicing the virtue of charity, I can find healing.
When we love and serve others, we shift the focus from our pain to the needs of the other. If we are stubbornly holding on to a past injury, we can get a different perspective by seeing the struggles of others. How many young people are transformed by a mission trip to a third-world country? They were worried back home about what are called "first-world problems" and then they see a little girl who has to walk three miles a day to get clean water. Or kids living naked in the woods because they have no home and no parents. Perspective is helpful. Again, not to dismiss our pain, but to let go of it for a little while.
We can heal when we practice acts of love without demanding or expecting anything in return. It's like we become less in a good way when we serve others in need.
Live in the Present
Jesus said, Don't worry about tomorrow. Today has enough trouble. (Matthew 6:34)
The devil wants us to fear the future. God tells us, "Do not be afraid." When you find yourself imagining all the what-if scenarios, stop. Pray. Ask God to give you more faith. Trust in His divine providence. It may not go as you would like, but God knows what He's doing. You trust that whatever the outcome, God will be with you. Your confidence is in God, not in ungodly self-reliance.
And don't live in the past. You can't change it. Satan wants us to stay in the past in a self-destructive way, to resent those who hurt us, feel shame for our sins, and wallow in self-pity because of our brokenness.
If Jesus takes us into the past, it is to heal us. He wants to get rid of all the excess baggage, whereas the devil wants to hoist another trash bag of memories onto our shoulders.
Healing Retreats
Sometimes a group healing experience is helpful. The Catholic Church offers retreats throughout the year for marriages in trouble, post-abortive women, and for men and women who have experienced abuse. The John Paul II Healing Institute offers in-person and online healing retreats. The St. Michael Healing Center offers online deliverance healing every month. Parishes sometimes offer healing missions. Do a search and find out if there is something in your area or online that you might attend. The retreat may not provide complete healing, but will help you make progress.
Care for Your Body
Treat your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit. Eat well. The wrong food makes us sluggish. Exercise. Physical movement creates endorphins that improve our mood. Get enough sleep and get extra rest when you're sick. When my body is weak, I am not patient. Old wounds come up. I get resentful and pull out my list of complaints. That's not good, especially if I have some unhealed wounds. My physical body can give me strength to pursue healing or can be too weak for me to make an attempt.
That's the "more" I promised at the beginning of this post. So many healing resources are available, not so that we use all of them, but so that we choose the ones that will bear fruit in our unique situation. Take these ideas into prayer. Ask God which resources might be most helpful for you.
Questions for prayer:
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How have the virtues of charity and humility contributed to your healing in the past? How might they help you today?
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Do you struggle to live in the present? If so, are you living in the past or worried about the future? What lies are keeping you from living in the present?
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What can you do to maintain better physical health? How might that contribute to your healing?