There is something so deeply human about bringing our physical pain before the Father, and your prayer for relief and healing in your shoulder without another surgery is an honest, humble plea. In the ministry of Jesus, we see Him moved with compassion for every kind of suffering, He healed Peter’s mother-in-law, touched blind eyes, and even reached out to lepers no one else would go near. Matthew tells us that when crowds brought the sick and demon-possessed to Him in the evening, He healed them all, and this was a direct fulfillment of Isaiah’s words: “He took our infirmities and bore our diseases.” The body of Christ was broken not only to forgive sin, but also because our whole broken condition, spirit, mind, and body, matters to Him.
At the same time, I have to be honest: the Scriptures never teach us to presume that God wills physical healing in every single case on this side of eternity. I don’t understand why some people are wonderfully restored while others continue to suffer, even people of deep faith. If I were the one deciding, I fear I would lean on what people deserve rather than on grace, and grace would evaporate. But because God’s ways are higher, we can trust that He is at work even when the healing we long for doesn’t come the way we hope. Sometimes it is a gradual process, the only gradual healing recorded in Jesus’ ministry was when He restored a blind man in stages. And sometimes He works through the natural processes He designed within the body, which are no less divine just because they follow the rhythms He created.
The ache you feel is a real effect of living in a world where sin has touched everything. If there were no sin, there would be no suffering, no death, no need for surgery. Yet Jesus did not remain distant from that brokenness. He entered into it, and He still hears the cries of the afflicted. James tells us, “Is anyone among you afflicted? Let him pray.” Notice he makes a distinction between affliction and sickness, your shoulder pain is an affliction, a burden, and prayer is the very first place to turn.
So I join my heart to yours, asking the Lord to bring relief, to guide the hands of any who treat you, and even to do what lies beyond medical intervention. I ask Him to grant you peace in the waiting, and to use this trial to deepen your roots, much like the seed Jesus spoke of that needed depth of earth to endure the scorching sun. Whether the answer comes swiftly or slowly, visibly or quietly, your Father has not forgotten you. He knows the processes of healing, and He can touch not only your shoulder but also the places in your mind and emotions where pain has left its scars.
Keep bringing your request before Him without shame, and let your “amen” rest entirely on His goodness, not on a formula, not on a spectacle, but on the steadfast love that held Jesus to the cross. That love will hold you, too.