Inner Healing and Wholeness

Acts 5:12-16 and 17-42  details the mighty miracles that the Holy Spirit accomplishes through the apostles and records the persecution they suffer at the hand of the religious authorities.  The apostles are accosted for spreading the gospel.  Acts 5:12 says “The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.”  “As a result, people brought the sick into streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.”  Moreover, “all of them were healed.”  Do you believe this biblical account?  Probably, most church attendees do.  Some may believe “Something happened.”  Still, other persons may posit “Miracles happen.” 

Healing extends beyond the physical realm.  Ultimately, people need wholeness of mind, heart, and soul.  The greatest miracle is the personal achievement of wholeness as a child of God.  Inner and spiritual healing equate with the gospel in today’s world.  Just as crowds of “sick and tormented” people gathered to receive healing, many people contemporarily desire the same.  Whether we believe the exact wording of Acts, we are obligated to provide healing which leads to wholeness.

Matthew 9:35-37 reflect three major modes of communicating the gospel.  “Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.”  Teaching, preaching and healing are interrelated.  We spread the gospel in all three mediums.  Some people acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ through intellectual ascent as they are taught the mysteries of God.  Others come to Him via the proclamation of the Word of God.  Still, others will not receive the message until their needs (physical, emotional and psychological) are addressed.  This multiple approach ensures that we reach all persons.

The latter part of the fifth chapter of Acts records the first instance of persecution on behalf of the gospel.  The apostles were imprisoned, unfairly tried, beaten and released for spreading the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Is a redemptive purpose to suffering.  Martin Luther King, Jr. offered, “Unearned suffering is redemptive.”  Someone else might suggest that our responses to a situation determines whether it is redemptive.  MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) was started because a mother who lost her son due to drunk driving decided that she would not be a victim.  Another mother whose son was killed in a shooting began a support group for families with similar experiences.  They have raised the societal consciousness about driving while intoxicated and random gun violence.  Those two responses negated the victim’s complex.  They also made those deaths more than statistics.  In taking those steps, those mothers redeemed their suffering.

More significantly, redemption occurs when people are willing to be agents of divine purposes.  When threatened by the Sanhedrin, the apostles responded, “We must obey God rather than men!”  In our suffering, we must choose to discern God’s will; accept it and live within it.  In doing so, we seek God’s possibilities in any given situation.  We renounce the habit of seeing ourselves as victims.  We ask the Holy Spirit to empower us to accomplish a divine purpose in our trials.  As we follow God’s guidance, we redeem our suffering.

Finally, a spiritual author suggests “Pain is the touchstone of all spiritual progress.”  Certainly, you have heard the phrase, “No pain, no gain.”  The miracle of inner healing and wholeness emerges when a person straightforwardly embraces his pain.  Acknowledging the depth of the pain and need to resolve it becomes the foundation for healing.  Denial never yields healing.  Rather, it extends the agony of the sickness and disease.  Therefore, the miracle and mystery of healing with the willingness to be honest with Almighty God and with one’s self in admitting the need for help.  From the whirlpool of alcoholism and drug addiction to the agonizing clutches of profound mental illness, a frank, thorough and forthright admission of the need of help is the fundamental cause of healing.  This humble plea for help equates with the biblical concept of a mustard seed’s worth of faith.  The countless and nameless people in Acts 5 who received healing willingly demonstrated their desire by seeking the apostles’ help.  Regardless of the illness that plagues you, I encourage you to emulate their example by genuinely searching for help.  Thereby, you like they will find inner healing and wholeness.