Of all of the names that the Lord refers to Himself by, Jehovah-Rapha, or the Lord Who heals, is one that Satan has certainly done all he can to twist, distort and cause confusion with. As a young girl, I often traveled with my well-meaning but misguided father to packed out church services with so-called "faith healers." Why those men never go to hospitals where the sick are, rather than making hurting people come to them, always puzzled me. But I digress... The fact is, God heals sometimes and other times He says, "My grace is sufficient for Thee." There are those moments He seems to cut through crowds to physically touch one person while the rest look on with a deep longing for the same kind of touch. Gods ways...that's not what I could possibly explain. I'll just share a very personal experience where God chose to heal in a special way.My neck was first injured when I lived in Chicago and a young man (strung out on drugs) jumped and beat me when I was around 20. Therapy was not possible and the Dr.'s prognosis was life-long pain and future arthritis. In my early 30's, I was playing volleyball and dove for a spike landing on my neck - this time, herniating a disc. For more than a year, I spent several occasions bed-ridden in pain until it finally ruptured and caused me to undergo surgery. Then in my 40's, I got miraculously pregnant and had a very chunky, tall baby which aggravates my neck to extremes at times.
Last June, with a one-year old busy girl that was not walking (didn't happen until 16 months), my neck went completely out of place. I felt it disobediently slide to one side and pain shot up my head and down my arm. The only way I got the slightest amount of relief for the next few days, was to cock my head to one side and look at everything a bit...tilted. Very hard to have a baby...a non-walking, need-to-be-picked-up baby...at this time. I continued to pray remembering that the Lord gave me the verse Deut. 33:25b "...as thy days, so shall thy strength be" when I was pregnant.
Finally one morning, the pain woke me up out of sleep and I went out to the living room to pray. My head was pounding so hard it made me nauseous. I had a Lidocaine patch on that was not helping and I took pain medication that didn't take one of the many knives away that seemed to be stabbing my neck. After about 10 minutes, I could no longer sit and laid down on my side. Like a rocket, as my shoulder put pressure into my spine and neck, the pain went through my head, down my back and arms and I cried out loud "JESUS, help me!" Just as quickly, right into my thoughts the Lord answered "Lay still and don't move. Relax and trust Me." I didn't move and my entire body was as tense as...oh, a mouse at a Cat Convention I suppose. I had to force myself to make my muscles relax and let go while they longed to spasm. The more I let go, the greater the direct pressure on the area of pain, the more tears began to stream down my face and then..."Pop, pop, pop."
My neck completed popped back into place. The knives fled and I sat up at once. I started to praise and thank the Lord when I heard Him speak to me again, "Shannon, there are times in life, not just physically, where I see you are hurting, wounded, or something is out of alignment and causing much pain. You may try to numb the wounds with your own patches on the situation. You may try and medicate in your own ways to take away some of the pain. You may learn how to partially function with the ache by leaning on your own understanding, but you will look at life through a tilted, limited view. Because I am the Lord that heals you, trust Me when I put pressure directly on that area of pain and want you to let go. It may hurt more at first as you face it, but I have eternity in mind with love in My heart. I Am also the One Who has promised to make the crooked places straight(Isa.45:2)."
It wasn't about my neck. He heals us...physically, emotionally, spiritually, socially...in every area. There IS a balm in Gilead (Jer.8) and His name is Jehovah-Rapha. God bless you...may we learn to trust Him more.
