Jesus Died For Our Healing

Two Years Of No Symptoms

Last month I celebrated two years of no symptoms of Lyme Disease! I have no words to describe how that feels. There were so many days over the six years I fought this disease that I wondered if I would survive it. I pleaded with God for just one day to be free of it, and now I’ve had two years. Learn more about my Lyme journey here.

Jesus Never Said No

Over the past eight years, I studied every aspect of the scriptures about healing. I desperately needed to know if there was something I missed. Would I find the secret to unlocking healing, or did I just have to wait? My emotions flowed from one end of the spectrum to the other. I would read the Gospels and every person who asked Jesus for healing received healing. Jesus never said no. This always brought me hope and I read all of their stories. The woman who bled for twelve years was the one I could relate to the most. You can read more about her here.

Then I got further into the new testament and read each of Paul’s letters and epistles. In these books, Paul mentions a ‘thorn in his side.’ We never get to find out what that thorn is, but many scholars say it was an illness. Paul even tells us that Luke, his doctor, traveled with him. This made me wonder, does God not heal everyone?

As I continued through his writings, Paul lived a very ambitious life, so if it was something chronic, it certainly did not slow him down. We also read that God rescued him from multiple shipwrecks, a snake bite, prison, and beatings. Again, I felt hope. God would get me through.

By His Wounds, We Are Healed

Of these scriptures, though, the two that stood out the most, that I repeated daily, were Isaiah 53:5 and 1 Peter 2:24. Isaiah, in one of his many prophecies of Jesus, says, “But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5 ESV). Some translations say by His stripes we are healed, or by His bruises we are healed. The New Living Translation says “He was whipped so we could be healed.” Peter, in his letter, says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)

As Jesus took His beating, with every lash against His skin, I believe He had each one of us on His mind. He knew who would face trials with their health and for each one of us, He laid there and took it for us. I recently heard this was a misinterpretation of the scripture. Some people would argue this was just for the healing of the soul. A healing from sin. This is amazing in itself, but I think it’s a way to explain away the miraculous work God does in our lives and the radical love He has for us.

Peace Over My Anxious Thoughts

Over the last two years, I would be lying if I said I had no fears that Lyme Disease would return. Every ache, sniffle, or pain brought anxious thoughts to my heart. I never want to experience what I went through again. Then, as I prepared to teach Leviticus, I came across a ritual that I had never studied when studying healing. Leviticus 14 teaches what the Israelites had to do after the healing of a skin disease. I won’t go into all the details here for the sake of time, but I would highly encourage you to go through this study on it. The book has made me fall more in love with Jesus with every chapter.

In this ritual, we find the priest placing blood on the right earlobe, the right thumb, and the right big toe of the healed person. The only other place we have read of this so far is in the ordination of the priests. In those passages, many scholars agree that putting the blood in these three areas represents that every part of them is being ordained for service. If we take this approach and apply it to the healed person, then we could say this represents the healing of the entire person.

This made me sit back for a moment and take it in. But are you ready for more? Further into this ritual, the priest takes the blood (that points us to the blood of Jesus) and sprinkles it on the healed person seven times. We can look at this in so many ways. One, when the blood is sprinkled, it would have to run down the body of this person. This points us directly to Jesus and symbolizes the wounds He took for our healing. Another perspective is that the number seven represents completion and perfection. I take this that when God heals someone; it’s perfect, and it’s complete.

Again, I have no words.

Jesus Wants To See You Healed

I want to encourage you that whatever spiritual, physical, or mental issue you are dealing with, Jesus wants to see you healed. Does He always do it in our timing? No. I had to wait six years. But what God taught me in those six years, I could only have learned from fighting a chronic illness. I was too busy living my life the way I wanted to.

Does God heal us always in the way we expect? No. Sometimes we get one part of the issue healed and still have the other. I had contracted three diseases when I got bit by a tick, that I know of. God healed one of them several years before the others. Why? I believe I still had more to learn, but God gave me hope in the process.

Keep Praying

Don’t give up! Keep praying. Keep seeking. Most of all, pray from a place of victory. Jesus already took the beating for you. He already died on the cross for you. Jesus already went to the grave for you and resurrected just for you. So when we pray, we need to pray with the expectancy that He has already done it. The simplest prayer to pray for healing is, “Thank you, Lord, for the healing that belongs to me.” It belongs to you, not because you did anything to deserve it, but because He already did what was necessary to heal you.

Read how God healed me here.