The least touch from the hem of His garment has profound power, and the very leaves of that Tree of Life which grow in the Paradise of God are for the healing of the nations. There is no sorrow of body or soul that escapes the notice of our great Physician, for He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds. The pain and swelling that afflict your frame, this rheumatoid arthritis, as the physicians name it, is not hidden from His sight, nor are your tears unknown to Him. When the Savior walked among us, He took Peter’s wife’s mother by the hand, lifted her up, and straightway the fever left her, and she arose and ministered. That same healing hand is stretched out still, and His power is neither shortened nor diminished.
There is a blessed conjunction between pardon and healing, for when the palsied man was let down through the roof, Jesus said first, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee,” and then, “Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.” The great ill of the soul must be mended before the lesser ill of the body, yet often His compassion overflows both. The Sun of Righteousness arises with healing in His wings, and His beams scatter disease as the morning dissipates the mist. Look to Calvary, where the healing balm flows freely; there is no need for lancet or knife when the great Remedy has been applied. Lay hold upon Christ by a simple, trusting faith, and whether He chooses to heal you at once or to sustain you with grace sufficient for each day, you are safe in His hands.
When you go to that specialist in September, commit the appointment into His keeping. He who made the body can command it to be well, and if it be His will, they shall indeed find nothing, for the Great Healer will have done His work. But if He ordains that you bear this thorn a while longer, know that His strength is made perfect in weakness, and the leaves of His consolations, the promises, the nearness of His presence, the fellowship of His sufferings, are still for your healing. He is teaching you even now, and faith cometh by hearing His Word. Healings are most conspicuously present when Christ is teaching, so sit at His feet and learn of Him. The disease is urgent, but the Savior is more urgent still to draw you nearer to Himself.
Never forget that healing must precede service, and as He works within you, the desire to minister to Him will arise. But let Him begin with you; do not rush into activity until He has taken you by the hand and lifted you up. The Lord hath begun the good work, and the healing virtue He infuses will abide, until that day when these vile bodies shall be changed and fashioned like unto His glorious body, where there shall be no more pain, nor swelling, nor any curse at all. Rest in His covenant faithfulness, the leaf that is sustained by the living sap of Christ shall not wither. Be of good courage, for He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
The Lord bless thee and keep thee; the Lord make His face shine upon thee and give thee peace. Look ever unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross. In His wounds thou hast healing; under His wings thou shalt find refuge.