Silas
Beloved of All
Your urgent prayer has been heard and taken to heart, and I want you to know you are not carrying this burden alone. Scripture teaches that we are one body in Christ with many members, and when one part suffers the whole body suffers with it, and when one part is lifted up we all rejoice together. God has placed each member in the body as it has pleased Him, and every part is needed for the body to be whole. Your struggle is felt by others who love you in the Lord, and we are praying with you.
You quoted the promise that if we ask we will receive that our joy may be full. That promise is true, and its deepest fulfillment is found in knowing Christ Himself. He invites us to keep asking, not as a formula to demand a specific appearance on our own timetable, but as children coming to a Father who hears, who loves us, and who answers according to His wisdom and goodness. He cares about every detail that causes you distress, including the marks, discoloration, dryness, sensitivity and other skin concerns you described, yet His greatest desire is to give you a full and lasting joy that is not dependent on a mirror.
The Bible gives us a helpful perspective on the body in which we now live. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and the human body is a marvel of God's design. At the same time, the real you is not simply this body. The body is the instrument through which your spirit expresses itself. This present body is like a tent or a temporary home. It is made of dust and it is subject to corruption, weakness and aging because of sin in the world. That is why we see wrinkles, spots, weariness and change over time. The mind can easily become occupied with the needs and appearance of the body, asking what shall we eat, drink or wear, or how we look, but we are called not to be ruled by the body.
Instead, Scripture says this body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and for those who belong to Jesus, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells within. We are not our own, we were bought with a price, and we are called to offer our bodies to God to be used for righteousness and to glorify Christ in our bodies while we live in them. That does not mean we neglect health or proper care, but it does mean our primary purpose is not to serve the body, but to let Christ be seen through us.
There is also a sure and glorious hope ahead. What is sown as a natural body will be raised as a spiritual body. Flesh and blood in its present corrupting state cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so this perishable must put on the imperishable. The body that is planted is not the body that will be. God will give us a new body as it pleases Him, fashioned like the risen body of Jesus, no longer subject to decay, weakness or dishonor, and not knowing the aging process. Now we are sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He appears we shall be like Him. That is the complete and permanent restoration we long for, and it is certain for all who are in Christ.
Through the suffering and broken body of Jesus provision was made for our healing and restoration, and we can come to Him for mercy for our whole person, spirit and soul and body. He is able to heal, and He also works in us to give peace while we wait on His perfect will and timing.
So I am praying for you now that the Lord would touch your body according to His gracious will, bring healing where healing is needed, ease irritation and sensitivity, and grant wisdom for any care you seek. I am praying even more that He would guard your heart from anxiety and from being ruled by concern over appearance, that He would fill you with the assurance that you are loved, valued and given a vital part to play in His body, and that your joy would be made full in Christ. May He help you to offer your body daily to Him for His purposes, to rest in His care for you as His creation, and to look with hope toward the new, incorruptible body He has prepared for those who belong to Him, where every tear and imperfection will be gone forever.
May the Lord grant you peace, comfort and confidence in His love as you continue to seek Him.
You quoted the promise that if we ask we will receive that our joy may be full. That promise is true, and its deepest fulfillment is found in knowing Christ Himself. He invites us to keep asking, not as a formula to demand a specific appearance on our own timetable, but as children coming to a Father who hears, who loves us, and who answers according to His wisdom and goodness. He cares about every detail that causes you distress, including the marks, discoloration, dryness, sensitivity and other skin concerns you described, yet His greatest desire is to give you a full and lasting joy that is not dependent on a mirror.
The Bible gives us a helpful perspective on the body in which we now live. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and the human body is a marvel of God's design. At the same time, the real you is not simply this body. The body is the instrument through which your spirit expresses itself. This present body is like a tent or a temporary home. It is made of dust and it is subject to corruption, weakness and aging because of sin in the world. That is why we see wrinkles, spots, weariness and change over time. The mind can easily become occupied with the needs and appearance of the body, asking what shall we eat, drink or wear, or how we look, but we are called not to be ruled by the body.
Instead, Scripture says this body is meant for the Lord and the Lord for the body, and for those who belong to Jesus, the body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who dwells within. We are not our own, we were bought with a price, and we are called to offer our bodies to God to be used for righteousness and to glorify Christ in our bodies while we live in them. That does not mean we neglect health or proper care, but it does mean our primary purpose is not to serve the body, but to let Christ be seen through us.
There is also a sure and glorious hope ahead. What is sown as a natural body will be raised as a spiritual body. Flesh and blood in its present corrupting state cannot inherit the kingdom of God, so this perishable must put on the imperishable. The body that is planted is not the body that will be. God will give us a new body as it pleases Him, fashioned like the risen body of Jesus, no longer subject to decay, weakness or dishonor, and not knowing the aging process. Now we are sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know when He appears we shall be like Him. That is the complete and permanent restoration we long for, and it is certain for all who are in Christ.
Through the suffering and broken body of Jesus provision was made for our healing and restoration, and we can come to Him for mercy for our whole person, spirit and soul and body. He is able to heal, and He also works in us to give peace while we wait on His perfect will and timing.
So I am praying for you now that the Lord would touch your body according to His gracious will, bring healing where healing is needed, ease irritation and sensitivity, and grant wisdom for any care you seek. I am praying even more that He would guard your heart from anxiety and from being ruled by concern over appearance, that He would fill you with the assurance that you are loved, valued and given a vital part to play in His body, and that your joy would be made full in Christ. May He help you to offer your body daily to Him for His purposes, to rest in His care for you as His creation, and to look with hope toward the new, incorruptible body He has prepared for those who belong to Him, where every tear and imperfection will be gone forever.
May the Lord grant you peace, comfort and confidence in His love as you continue to seek Him.
