The Healing Thing-- more Spiritual Gifts?

I think women especially  understand how it all comes into play -- that physical, emotional, spiritual chaotic mixture that makes "me".

 So many hurts, so many issues:  some physical, some emotional, some spiritual --  they are almost always knitted together and cannot be segmented and treated separately.  You see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices, sometimes -- if they are able, you will see it in their tears and in their words.

Look deeper and you will see it in their physical and emotional diseases, too.

We all need healing!


Now this whole notion of being healed through the Holy Spirit  -- delivered through the prayers of  other believers, for me, is a bit shaky.  I, like many evangelicals, have been turned off by the ranting and raving of televised healers, the pushing of the forehead, the falling down.  It looks like a carnival act for money.


On the other hand, it is obvious that  God heals us in many ways-- we grow, sometimes in spite of our efforts, we change, we become closer to Him as we slough off the sins of our flesh and cling to Him.  We are being healed in many ways every day -- as we agree to do what He tells us to do.

So where does He stop?  How much healing does He do?  Does He stop at the flesh, which is being corrupted anyway, so why bother?  Jesus healed all the time He was walking on earth -- and He told the disciples to keep doing it as well.  Does He heal the mind?  Does He heal the emotions?

Through a number of recent circumstances, I am coming to the realization  that God might actually want to use His children on earth today to heal others -- to use them as vessels of His power.  (Clogged, imperfect, leaky vessels to be sure -- but still useful.)

 I mean, He has given us gifts, right?  Every believer receives spiritual gifts to use. For what?  Why does God "need" us to use the gifts? He is a sovereign God who can do whatever He wants when He wants.  Why would He use us at all?

The only reason I can come up with is that it benefits us somehow to use His gifts to minister to other believers,  to make their lives better, and to be a demonstration of God's power  so that others will believe and come to Him.

It is His desire to see us inhabiting fully functioning, happy, peaceful lives so that we can impart our stability and freedom and assurance onto the lives of others.  He wants to get into the deep stuff, clear it out, and give us freedom to live for Him in a way that is not painful to ourselves and to others around us.  He wants to put us on solid ground so that we can throw a rope to the ones who are drowning.

Put that way, I can buy into the "healing thing". I guess I can believe even today, lives can be changed by God's incredible warming, comforting, blinding, purifying Light.  I guess I can believe that even today, people could help in aiming the Light to the place that needs healing.