It is a mercy that the heart, when pained with bodily affliction, can turn to the God of all comfort. What a singular season for mercy is this time of suffering, when the sharp thorn of pain drives the soul to look beyond itself! The Angel of Mercy often finds us in the desert of our helplessness, just at the well called Beer-lahai-roi, where the Lord sees us. That very knee, now weakened and aching, may become the place where Mercy speaks most tenderly. For the God of my mercy shall go before me, yes, and before you, and He is not slow to hear the cry of the needy.
Do not think that He has forgotten. The tender mercy of our God has great provisions; the Sun of Righteousness has arisen with healing in His wings. And the leaves of the Tree, the least things about Jesus, are for the healing of the nations. Oh, that you might reach forth the hand of faith and take those leaves! There is an abundance of healing power in Christ, not only for the soul but for the body too, for He bore our sicknesses and carried our pains. The prayer for complete healing is not a small thing; it lies in the great heart of the Saviour who, when He walked among men, made the lame to walk and the withered limb to be restored whole.
Yet, hear this: the very pain you long to be set free from may be the stern discipline that marks the footsteps of His mercy. When God has distinct purposes of mercy, He often brings us low by affliction until we are shut up to Him alone. And that bed of suffering, where the knee refuses its service, may become a sacred school where the Spirit teaches you to say, “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?” For healing and pardon are woven together. When Christ healed the palsied man, He first said, “Thy sins are forgiven thee.” Seek, then, not only the mending of the outward frame, but the sweet sense of sins blotted out. That is the surest balm; many a child of God has renewed strength at the remembrance of pardoning mercy.
Mercy is not earned by tears, nor bought with vows; it is given freely, without money and without price. Let this anchor your hope: The God of your mercy will prevent you, He will forestall you. Before you could frame the longing sigh, He knew it. While you are yet calling, He hears. And if it pleases Him to delay the outward cure, say, “My times are in Thy hand.” The reason for mercy is found nowhere but in His own heart, in the sacrifice of His dear Son, where Justice and Mercy kissed. On that ground, He looks upon your weakness and, having bruised the head of sin, He will one day bruise Satan under your feet and make you whole.
Lift your heart to the Great Physician and say, “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” Wait upon Him with a sound hope, a hope that knows its own unworthiness and rests entirely on mercy. The very desire you feel is a token that He has not passed you by. May the Holy Spirit make the healing virtue of Jesus flow into every part, and may you soon rise to testify that the God of mercy has done all things well.