Day Sixty-Eight

WHEN PAIN HEALS

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.”

—MATTHEW 9:12 NIV

I got LASIK eye surgery recently. It’s amazing. It feels like the closest thing to a miracle that I have ever experienced—I was blind but now I can see!

But it didn’t feel great. There was a lot of pressure and a decent amount of pain that afternoon after the surgery. But I know the pain was worth it because now my eyesight is practically perfect.

Surgery hurts, but it is always for our good and for our health.

There are times when God is going to take you through surgery, not because He wants to hurt you, but because He loves you and wants to heal you. I’ve seen it in my own life—things being cut away, sins being revealed, secrets being exposed, all for my good. Even when it hurt.

We know that, and yet we often behave like our Surgeon isn’t trustworthy and isn’t out for our good. We live our lives panicking and worrying and wondering why our lives are full of pain.

There are times when God’s going to take you through surgery, not because He wants to hurt you, but because He wants to heal you.

When we remember we’re sinners in need of Jesus, we can trust our Great Physician. Jesus reminded us that we are sick people who need a doctor.

We cannot see the future. We do not know what’s best for us. We make mistakes. We say things we regret. We do things with impure motives. We live in a broken world.

But our God is a Healer. He loves us. And we can be brave in the face of brokenness and pain and spiritual surgery because we know that God is good.

BE BRAVE: Ask God to show you how some of your hurts have actually led to healing.