Healing

We are living in a world looking for healing. Whether it's from the physical things that ail us, our broken hearts, our damaged relationships, our failures, or whatever, we're all looking to be made whole again...or at least to get a little bit of our peace, strength, and hope back. 

And we'll do just about anything to get it. 

It doesn't take very long on the internet to find the wackiest, weirdest solutions to whatever ails you...and I know folks who will try almost all of them. No matter how silly, disgusting, or potentially dangerous, anything that promises even a small measure of the healing that we're looking for is worth a shot. ...isn't it? 

We'll try anything, and then we're disappointed when it doesn't work. Wait...you mean drinking apple cider vinegar doesn't actually make me lose weight? Then what did I burn my throat for? You mean 30 minutes of mindfulness a day doesn't give me peace when I go back to my chaotic life? 

Let's face it - the world is full of snake oil, and most of us are being charmed. 

But we're desperate. We need healing, and we know it. 

One of my favorite stories in the Gospels - one I have written about at length before - is the story of the father who comes to the disciples to heal his child, who has been afflicted for quite some time, but nothing is working. 

We don't meet this father when he comes to the disciples, though. Remember, Jesus has sent out the disciples to heal the people and spread the good news, so it's only natural that someone looking for healing would come to them on their travels. But no, we meet this father when he comes to Jesus. 

"Lord, I brought my child to your disciples for healing, but they couldn't do it." They were sent out to heal in the world, with all of the authority of the God who both creates and re-creates, and they were unable to give my child their life back. They couldn't heal this one. 

Then, Jesus looks at the man and looks at the child (and, I think, looks at the disciples), and at once, He rebukes the demon in the child and forces it to flee. 

Immediately, the child is healed. 

We are living in a world looking for healing, and we'll do just about anything to get it. We'll spend all our time, all our resources, cash in all of our favors, follow every advice, do absolutely ridiculous things to our bodies, contort our hearts, bow our heads, fold our hands, open ourselves to the universe, whatever it takes...

But what if what we're trying to heal in our lives can't be healed? 

What if it has to be cast out?