Word for the day by Christian Education Forum
Compassionate Healing
Psalm 107:17-22
Dr. Susan Varghese
Los Angeles MTC, CA
“They cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them from their distress.” Psalm 107:19
Our God has the power to heal us - mind,
body and soul. The question is, how do we tap into that great power?
What is it that we must do? Sometimes we feel it is only available
if we pray long enough or hard enough. Sometimes we feel it is by being
better people, more loving or more generous or more compassionate. So
what is the answer? How do we tap into the power of God to heal us and
save us?
When we are afflicted and broken, we will
cry and we will be in sorrow. We then have a choice. We can “cry
in” – feel pity for ourselves, be frustrated with our circumstances, be
overwhelmed and feel hopeless. Alternatively, we can choose to “cry out”
to the LORD and take hope in His willingness and His power to save us.
The psalmist says the people rebelled and suffered greatly because of it.
But with the simple act of crying out to the Lord everything changes.
The Lord hears their cries and He saves them, heals them, and rescues
them from the grave. A psalm that begins in suffering ends with songs of
joy.
The story of blind Bartimaeus that is found
in Luke 18:35-43 is a story plucked straight from the heart of today’s passage.
Bartimaeus hears a ruckus and asks, what’s going on? “Jesus of
Nazareth is passing by”, the people say. Bartimaeus cries out, “Jesus,
Son of David, have mercy on me!” and despite the people trying to silence him,
he cries out loud again, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And what does Jesus
do? He heals him. “Your faith has healed you.”
When we cry out to Him, He sees our faith and He heals us. He is
our loving Father and longs to heal us and make us whole. All we must do
is surrender ourselves and cry out to Him.