messy heart.

Just a little seed of thought.

In the New Testament, specifically Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John (the books that catalog Jesus Christ’s time on earth) we see several instances of people— blind people, sick people, hurting people, paralyzed people, and yes, even the family members of dead people— approaching Jesus frantically asking for healing. And most of the time, He responds with “your faith has healed you.” And they are instantly healed and go on their way. Well, Jesus is mysterious and beyond complete comprehension of humans this side of Heaven, but the reason why He says this reveals a lot about the way we as Christians should be living our lives.

“Your faith has healed you.” Jesus saw that these people knew enough about His character and believed enough in His power to ask for healing with confidence that He COULD and WOULD do it. They didn’t approach Him like He was a mall Santa Claus. Those people that received this response from Jesus had demonstrated, through their urgency and sincerety, that they knew He was the source of healing. They knew He was capable, and they were humble enough to ask for help from this Healing Savior.

As Christians living 2000 years later, I believe that the Father still wants us to demonstrate our faith by bringing our problems to Him. Those people in need of healing didn’t let Jesus walk past, raise their hands and say, “nah, man. I’ll get it eventually. I can do this on my own. Thanks though.” They chased Him with all their might and fell down before Him, knowing He was more than powerful enough and more than merciful enough to heal them. Not only can God already see everything that troubles us, but He is the solution to any problem we have. His character and His heart and His person are the solution to our sinfulness, to our struggles, to our weaknesses. Have the faith today to run to Him, believing enough in His power and His mercy to ask for the help He already knows you need. I’m not talking about someone to give you everything on your Christmas list. And I’m not talking about Name-it-claim-it, late night tv pastors telling you creepy weird stuff. I’m saying, God can see your heart, its wounds…Your fears. Your struggles. Trust Him enough to confess those to Him. Ask Him for wisdom, strength, healing. He loves to bless His children. Not because we are beautiful, but because HE is.

If you feel like you have asked God for healing and He has not brought it… evaluate more closely what you are asking Him for, and what behind that is the heart issue that needs healing. His love is too great to allow us to settle for less than His best.