Sometimes it feels as if the waves of healing never lose their distinctive rhythm. Just when I feel one wave passing and I exhale into the calm ribbons that draw the current back into the deep, another resounding force crashes against the shore of wounds within my soul. I have grown accustomed to the ocean’s movement inside of me. I almost welcome it. There is something not so paralyzing about its visitations.

I have come to accept, perhaps even embrace my healing as a lifelong exploration. I see its beauty and accept its calling. Yes, my healing is never complete. Not here on earth, anyway.

I used to resist the demands of healing. I used to avoid this fierce, yet holy pilgrimage. I fought against the currents, terrified of being overwhelmed, of being discovered, of becoming lost in my brokenness.

What once felt like the agony of my pain has now become the salve of my healing. They are of the same mold, yet completely different experiences.

I now lean in. I now expect. Whether it is spiritual or emotional healing, my compass is more in tune, distinctly aligned. When it comes, I submit to its offering, knowing that its work in me is far more than I would have ever experienced without it. Age has tenderly revealed that I will never be whole without embracing my wound and allowing His healing to do its work in me.

Healing is the process that God uses to bring us to a place of wholeness and holiness. Healing is His gift to us. It is a necessary part of our journey. Transformation.

There are three reasons to embrace the power of healing in your life.

1. Healing lightens our load. Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30, NIV ) Wounds that have accumulated over the course of a lifetime become heavy loads. We carry these wounds with us into every job, every relationship. The weight grows harder to carry over time. We become exhausted, burdened, hopeless. Our wounds taint how we experience the world around us and force us to rely on our defenses to keep us safe.

God wants us to find our healing in Him. He wants us to find our safety in Him.      Yet we cannot if we haven’t yet healed the wounds that have caused us so much anguish and pain. We cannot experience freedom and wholeness as long as we run from the healing process.

2. Healing renews our energy for the journey. If all of the space in our heart is consumed by the scars from our wounds, we will have little energy or excitement for the journey. We may survive the day, but we will never thrive the way we were intended. If we choose healing as a lifestyle, if we open the door to expose the wounds we have protected for so long, we will wake to find renewed energy, hope, and joy for today. We will be able to see clearly the beauties of life, of love that surround us. We will be able to dream again, to imagine something out of nothing, to feel the Spirit breathe deeply in our souls, and enjoy the power and awe of His life moving within us.

3. Healing frees us to become the person we were created to be. We were created in His image. We were born into this life unencumbered and simple and free. Yet as life happens and writes upon the slate of our being, our original identity becomes fractured and shadowed by the pain of things that should have never been, but were. The beauty of healing is that is frees us, it binds up the fractured parts and pieces, it clears away the rubbish of lies that we have believed and allows our true identity to grow and shine, in the light of His love and grace. What emerges is a life that is slowly but surely becoming not just healed, but whole.

There is nothing better.

Lord, help me to remember that all living things must grow. If I do not grow, I will wither and die.

Help me trust You each moment as Your healing washes over me. Help me remember that as I heal, I discover more of You and more of me. I become untethered to the wounds that have prevented me from experiencing all that You have for me.

Healing creates my most intimate connection with You, Lord.

Healing yields a harvest of peace!