Jehovah-Rapha, Your God That Heals

It is through your faith in Jesus that you have been redeemed and are being set free from all that oppresses you. Invite God to search, sift, and purge you from all the wounds of your past. No one has escaped this life without physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual injuries, but God is on your side and is faithful to restore you. You emerge from family, life experiences, and relationships with wounds from negative experiences. The damage done to your soul is directly proportionate to these experiences. The traumas you have endured leave a wound ranging from a nick to a gaping hole in your soul, but the good news is you have been given all you need to be victorious through Christ Jesus. Don’t settle for a shattered soul that makes you impotent to claim God’s promises for you. No traumatic experience is to be swept under the rug because any and every destructive event harms your soul (your mind, will, and emotions.)

Too many people dismiss their painful experiences and kick dirt over the wound until it is hidden under a mound that protects it from detection. You cannot bury it and then walk away because it remains inside of you festering, and it leaks out affecting your emotions, speech patterns, relationships, choices, and hopes. You falsely assume that your pain, depression, anger, or fear has no correlation to the trauma, abuse, and abandonment that you have suffered. You may walk through life struggling with an unstable self-image, not understanding your true worth or identity in Christ. Some of you may enter into destructive relationships, or withdraw entirely from deep relationships. This robs you of the abundance and victory God has purchased for you. God desires to heal your wounds so you can prosper in your relationships. When you recognize that your soul has been bruised and broken, you realize your deep need of God’s healing. 

When you are brokenhearted, your soul is shattered and torn apart. The fruit of this is hopelessness, shame, and fear that you will never be safe, loved, or receive approval. When you recognize your brokenness and helplessness and turn to God, you position yourself to be healed and blessed by God. The solution is to open up yourself to God and be willing to allow His Spirit to search the secret places in your mind, will, and emotions. You must allow Him to search the secret memories and buried experiences that have wounded your soul. Ask God to have His way. He is your Good Shepherd and will provide abundant grace as He exposes the wounds and pain so that He may restore your soul.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul…”  (Psalm 23:1-3, NASB)

The phrase“He restores my soul” means that He causes your life to return; He quickens you, or causes you to live. This is good news and offers hope to all who have suffered the effects of trauma, abuse, and abandonment.             

“He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”

(Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV) 

 Your pain is washed away by Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals. He came to heal your broken heart and fragmented soul; He is the one that can set you free from the darkness of being victims. He releases you from the prison of emotional wounds.  He desires to comfort your mourning and replace your despair with praise and gladness. Nothing can separate you from His love and healing power if you will only receive.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:37-9:1 NIV)

You must face the experiences that were designed to crush you and trust Him. You do not have to carry around a lifetime of pain and sorrow. He died so that you can be free; call upon Him. You can be purged and made one-hundred percent whole, and you should settle for nothing less. Then you are no longer a victim; you are more than a conqueror, you are an overcomer.

Dr. Michele

Copyright © 2013 by Michele Fleming, Ph.D.