S3 E1 | What Does It Mean to Be Healed by Jesus?

Welcome to Life Reclaimed, a place for honest conversations about faith, healing, and real life.

We are three friends learning to walk in freedom and trust God through the messy middle.

Pull up a chair.

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Let’s dive in.

Welcome, everyone, to Life Reclaimed. My name is Kim, and I am here around the table with my two friends, Brenda and Cindy.

We are so glad you’re here.

Over the last two seasons, we’ve talked about becoming healthy and whole, and today we’re beginning something new.

Season 3: Healed.

Oh, yeah.

I’m excited about this one.

I know, me too.

And this season, we’re going to spend some time looking at Jesus.

The people he encountered, and the many ways he healed, restored, and transformed their lives.

Along the way, we’ll bring our own stories to the table too, of course, the places where we’ve experienced healing, the places where healing looked different than we expected, and even the places where we’re still waiting.

We definitely don’t have all the answers.

No?

Are you sure?

I’m positive.

But we’re excited to explore the questions together.

And we hope you’ll pull up a chair and join us.

But before we jump in, let’s start the way we usually do with a quick check-in.

What’s something in your life that’s gotten better lately?

My sleep has gotten better.

Nice.

I discovered this thing called a mask.

Oh, I’ve heard about those.

Like a blackout mask? And, oh my gosh, they work.

I highly recommend them.

If you’re like struggling to sleep, it literally is pitch dark. Like, and I just, I sleep so soundly.

Wow.

So my sleep has gotten much better.

That’s amazing.

I have one. So, you know how I was the dancer my whole life and then spent eight and a half years not being able to walk.

And ever since then, still problems, I went to a dance fusion class at the gym today this morning at 8:30, like who had time for that?

But it was fun and it was nice to just move the body a little bit.

That’s awesome.

Yeah.

That’s exciting.

I know.

The thing that comes to mind is just my relationships in my family. I feel like for a while we were just not talking as much.

And so, especially with my brother, and I only have the one sibling. And so it’s been really great to just have the time to spend with him, and with my parents, and with my nephews and have the cousins together, all of it.

I’m loving it.

I love that.

That’s amazing.

I love that it’s family oriented.

That’s so cool.

Well, maybe better wasn’t exactly the same thing as healed, which brings us to the question we’re going to start with today.

When you hear the word healed, what comes to mind first?

Oh, I usually think physical healing first.

And then I think spiritual healing.

Those are the two things that sort of come to my mind. I don’t know.

Okay. So I think of a lot of different things, but when I first, I thought, okay, what do I think of immediately when I hear healed?

I think of a wound that no longer needs tending to.

Yes.

That’s so smart.

And I, and I pictured, when I thought about this, I pictured a scabbed knee.

And I don’t, and I, and I think this is more of an analogy rather than a specifically a scabbed knee.

But, you know, when you think of healing in a scabbed knee, it takes so long because it keeps opening.

It’s right on the joint.

And eventually we get to that spot where it is not breaking open anymore.

And the scab starts to shrink and shrink and shrink and then it falls off and you have that red left over, right? And you’re still like maybe putting vitamin E oil on it and you’re doing the things.

And eventually you forget it’s there.

Yeah.

And I thought, that to me is what healed is.

That’s so, so good.

I might have the scar there if I looked down, but it’s not breaking open anymore.

Breaking open and I don’t need to tend to it.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s what I thought of.

That’s a great image.

I love that.

It makes me think right now, you know, I had just written down, done.

It is done.

Oh, Oh, that’s nice. Because you don’t, you don’t, you’re not going back and thinking about it or whatever.

And, you know, like with the knee.

It’s good.

It’s done.

And my, my father was diagnosed with liver cancer. And he had treatment and I helped my parents get onto the zooms, you know, to talk to his doctor.

And his doctor just said, it’s completely gone.

You can see the black, there’s a black space on the image where it was, and it’s completely gone.

He is healed.

That’s 100%.

It is.

Praise God.

Yeah, I mean, praise the Lord.

But, yeah, just done.

I love that.

I think anyone who has been on a long health journey, or knows somebody, or is close to or is taking care of somebody on a long health journey, the word healed can also mean release. Right?

Release from this season, release from this journey, release from this cancer, release from this pain, release from this.

Right?

And so I feel like that freedom that comes with that release is kind of, you know, goes along with this too.

Oh, absolutely.

When we started looking more closely at scripture, one thing that became really clear is that Jesus healed people physically, sometimes miraculously, but he didn’t only restore bodies.

Yeah, I love that.

He restored dignity. He forgave sin.

Yes.

He met people in shame. He restored relationships and purpose. He offered living water. He transformed lives.

It’s so good.

I love that.

So maybe one of the questions for this season is whether our definition of healing has sometimes been too small.

Oof.

What do you think?

Possibly.

Yeah.

I love that the breadth of healings that Jesus did covers all the things that we are about to encounter in life.

You know what I mean?

Yes.

It’s in the scriptures already.

And I think we’re also going to dive into that idea of being healed in your soul, though your physical might not have healing.

Yes.

Right, right.

That’s that bigger picture.

Yeah.

What are some ways you’ve seen Jesus bring healing or restoration in scripture that weren’t simply physical?

I think of denying him three times as if we haven’t denied him more than that in our lifetimes, but then the restoration that he does emotionally and getting him set back on his path, I love the way he asks those three questions.

Hey, do you love me?

And then he gives him a command, and all three of them are slightly, just slightly different because they’re covering different parts of that insecurity that may have happened when he denied him.

And I think that restoration is just so beautiful to me.

I’ve heard that those three times that he asks if he loves him to match the three different types of love that there are.

Yeah.

And that’s, when are you fully encompassing all of Jesus.

Yeah.

Love that.

Yeah.

Two things come to my mind. One was the woman at the well.

Yeah, she was Absolutely Right.

She was there to get water.

I didn’t know she needed living water.

Exactly.

She She had no idea what she was really looking for.

Yet at the same time, I think she knew she was missing something.

Yes.

Right?

She’s the adulterous woman who’s had multiple husbands.

Husbands.

And not husbands.

Yes.

And was on the search for something.

Yeah.

And Jesus heals her.

And then she goes and tells everybody.

Yes, exactly.

And then the other story I thought about was before the woman in the crowd touches him, he’s on his way.?

Yes, to heal the son.

Yep.

And we always, I think, focus on the son.

Yes.

But I’m wondering in that moment, when that happened to his son, right, is how much healing he brought to the Father of that Son.

Right?

Like does that emotional healing that he was able to bring. I just think that he was probably falling on his knees. Falling on his knees.

Yeah.

And you mentioned her, but I did think about the bleeding woman and I thought about how, you know, she was such an outcast because she was considered unclean.

She was never clean. She could never come back into society at all.

And so while he did, you know, heal her physically, I mean, just giving her that freedom to now come back and have friendships and, you know, maybe go rejoin her family. I don’t know.

But it was a lot more than just physical healing for her.

Yeah.

Oh, absolutely.

I agree.

When you put yourself in her shoes, you can only imagine the brokenness that needed to be healed in her.

I think this is why talking about being healed is so important because physical healing is only one part of it.

There’s so much emotional healing and spiritual healing and just even mental health.  I mean, all of it.

And when Jesus like heals and restores people, their whole world changes.

Everything.

Which I think tells you it was more than one type of healing.

More than one way that they were healed.

Yeah.

For sure.

When you think about your own life, have you experienced healing that you wouldn’t necessarily have called healing at the time?

Sure.

And I think some of my healings came quickly, like miraculously. Like we can literally pinpoint the day that that miracle happened.

And some of my healings came slowly over time more my emotional things that I was working through, it would be years later where the same trigger would happen and I wouldn’t have the reaction to it this time when I could go, oh, that doesn’t trigger me anymore.

You know, but it wasn’t until that trigger came up later down the road, that I realized the work he had been doing in me and the healing he was doing in the restoration that was happening allowed me to not get triggered from those things that normally would have sent me down a whole rabbit trail, you know?

Yeah, I actually thought of it a little different.

There are moments that I’ve had and spent time with friends or family or at places and I’ve walked away feeling so much better like filled up.

Filled your cup.

And I never looked at that as healing, but I think God provided all of those moments to heal my soul, to like, to provide rest and for me to be able to rejuvenate and be ready to move forward.

I love that.

And I had never thought about it that way.

So we had a really tight group of people at one of the schools that I worked at and we hadn’t seen each other in probably 15 years. Students and faculty.

We had a memorial of one of our friends, former student. We didn’t know we were all going there. And we spent the rest of the night with each other because we couldn’t bear to leave.

And the minute we left each other, it was almost like our whole soul was filled up with this joy and with this love because here were people who knew us so well, and we had loved them so much and they had loved us so much and we hadn’t seen them in so long.

And so it was amazing.

The next day we all texted each other in a group chat.

We were like, my cup is full. I mean, it was great.

Yeah.

Did you recognize it while it was happening or mostly when you looked back?

Usually when I looked back.

Yeah, that’s how I felt too.

It was more upon that looking back and realizing, oh, God provided that opportunity for that healing.

Yes.

And I can relate to what you’re saying, Kim, you know, over these past two years, there’s been a lot of healing.

But in the moment, I’m not really thinking about it.

But then as I look back, you know, certain triggers, certain emotions, all those feelings, I am not the same person, you know, but I think it’s because I’m healed in a lot of those areas.

Yes.

And there are things that I will still continue needing healing from for a very long time, but I am a lot more healed today than I was yesterday, than I was the day before, than I was a year ago, than I was 10 years.

You know what I mean?

So yeah, that’s beautiful.

There’s something about the name of this season that I’ve been curious about. We mentioned it in our mini episode.

When I felt like God gave me the words for these four seasons, they were healthy, whole and healed originally. We’ve added free to that list.

But I kept wondering, why is it healed?

Why is it not healing or not becoming healed or healed? Healed as past tense.

And so it’s something that’s already happened. And yet often I don’t feel like I’m already healed.

And so I just thought that was so interesting. And I don’t know that I completely understand the significance of that yet, but I wonder if there’s something there for us to discover.

And if by the end of this season, maybe that will open up some interesting things or maybe it just is inconsequential.

I really don’t know.

Well, could some of that connect to what Jesus has already accomplished?

I mean that’s, that’s my only guess.

It’s got to be the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

That’s what I would argue.

I would argue once you have believed and accepted Jesus into your heart that he has already brought the healing through what he did.

And now what we’re working on are really the integral parts of our life, right?

And our experiences that we need to heal from.

But he has healed us down deep in our souls to where we know we have hope to eternity.

Yeah.

It’s also interesting because I accepted Christ as a young child and then a lot of the things that happened, happened after that.

And so it’s hard to go, okay, well, when I accepted the Lord, I may have been a little more healed than I was a decade or two later, but yet, going through that journey of yuck, right?

I never felt like he had left me, but I also felt like I was broken, you know? So I had really had to kind of wrestle and sort through what he had done and how it covered all of that.

Okay.

And I just am having this thought, healthy, whole, healed, and free, could be just grammar versions or the context versions of how he sees us.

He sees us healthy.

He sees us whole here.

He sees us healed.

He sees us free.

That’s so good.

It’s from His point of view, not perspective.

Oh, you’ve just blown my mind. I’ve been working on these words for how many years?

Right?

That’s how he sees us.

Right.

And I was thinking, as we talked about that same idea with whole when we were doing whole the minute we accept Christ, we’re whole in his eyes.

Right.

We had work to do, but he sees us that way and it’s the same, I guess, with healed.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

Blown mind.

Okay.

And at the same time, we obviously still live in a world where people get sick.

Yeah.

Relationships break. There’s hurt, and there are places in all of us that still need healing.

Exactly.

So how do we hold those things all together?

How do you live in both places?

Right.

Feeling and knowing that Jesus has healed you?

And yet it makes me wonder if that’s how he sees us as healed.

If he wants us to know you aren’t broken.

Yeah.

You may have brokenness, but it doesn’t define.

But you’re not broken.

Right.

Right.

Man.

Okay.

This is good.

I like it.

Well, what comes up for you when you think about the word healed being in the past tense?

Like the analogy of your scab.

You don’t look at it anymore.

I have this scar.

I touched my brother’s minibike when I was a little kid.

I was trying to see how many parts of the bike I could touch with different parts of my body and my knee decided it wanted to touch the big shiny metal part.

Oh, no.

Which burned it.

And so I’ve lived with this burn scar forever on my knee.

And when I don’t think about it, I don’t even remember that I have that burn scar, right?

Right.

But healing through the burn scar was no good.

So when I hear healed, I hear, like you said, done.

And I think the scar is a reminder of the lesson I learned from that. And why we’ll never do that again.

Right.

Don’t touch the big shiny parts.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Is there a difference between living as someone Jesus has healed and spending our lives waiting to finally become healed?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Oh, I think that takes us right back to similar what we were just talking about, that if we view ourselves as healed by Jesus, then we don’t live in the brokenness.

Right.

Right.

Our goal would be to live out of that healing knowing I have the power of Jesus in me to move forward.

Yeah.

Right.

We’ve met plenty of people who live in brokenness and stay there.

Yeah.

Exactly.

And so knowing Jesus offers you healing in a moment and that gives you the power and the strength to be able to take the steps that you need.

Yeah.

I think that defines that difference.

For sure.

Well, and waiting is no way to live.

You know?

I mean, I don’t like the waiting.

Nobody needs to spend their life waiting to finally become healed.

It’s so much better to claim it.

You know, I mean, you have to talk to yourself about it because you may not feel it.

But if you know, okay, God has got this, I’m not going to just wait around until I finally feel healed.

I need to claim it now.

Yeah.

And that’s something, like you said, there’s a lot of things we have to wait for.

We wait for a lot of things.

Yes.

And sometimes God is using that waiting intentionally, wanting to get you to a place.

When you’re prepared and ready for what he wants to do next.

Exactly.

But in this case, he encourages you to claim the healing. Claim his healing by professing him as Lord and Savior.

I think there’s this theory that went around Christian circles a while ago and it talked about, do we live for victory or from the place of victory over death in the grave and hell?

And, you know, it’s mainly talking about salvation and heaven and we don’t have to live this life waiting for victory.

We already know the end.

We have victory.

So I think it’s maybe similar to that, actually.

I would agree with that.

I think so.

Yeah.

We could live from a place of being healed.

It as opposed to waiting for that healing.

Right.

Interesting.

I agree.

Well, and I think we talked about this.

Can something be genuinely healed and still have a scar?

Maybe that’s something we carry with us this season instead of trying to answer today.

I don’t know.

But we kind of talked about it all.

Yeah, I feel like we kind of already answered it.

I think some things won’t leave a scar, but I think there are other things that will.

Even Jesus had scars.

Yeah.

And so those scars are there for a purpose and that’s to remind you of what you have gone through.

And it’s true to remind you of God’s power to bring you through it.

Yeah.

And it’s to remind you of the lesson learned, right?

It’s to use as your testimony.

It’s to bring other people to Jesus. Right?

They’re there for a reason.

I don’t think they’re there to be ashamed of.

And I don’t think they’re there to hide.

I think they’re there for a purpose.

I think we usually try to hide our scars.

Oh, yes, we do, Especially women.

We don’t want anybody to see the things that we might be ashamed of or embarrassed of or that show up as less than.

We don’t like that.

We like to hide the scars.

It shows where we made mistakes.

Yeah.

Nobody wants to live there. Put that out there.

Right.

That’s the 2%.

Yes.

Well, before we go any further, let’s look at one passage that gives us a picture of what was happening as Jesus began his ministry.

Love this.

Matthew 4:23–24 says: Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.I love this so much.

It’s all encompassing of the work that he was doing, but also, it gives you so many amazing glimpses into him, into his character, into into how much he had compassion for them because he healed them.

It was done.

It was done.

It was done, and it was done for a wide variety of people.

It wasn’t exclusionary.

Yeah.

What stands out to you when you hear that?

One of the things I really love about this is what you just said, it wasn’t exclusionary, but it also wasn’t, they had to get their act together, put themselves in their nice robes, get into the right posture, and then he was like, okay, I’ll think about healing you.

Right?

Like there was nothing they could have done that was going to make it right.

Right.

There was nothing they could have done that was going to bring the healing.

Right.

All they did was trust that he could do it.

Yeah.

The faith.

Well, and some didn’t even come to him.

He saw that man that was sitting by the water for however long.

Years.

And he said, do you want to be healed?

You know what I mean?

The guy didn’t even approach him.

Yes.

Or the other father that came to heal his son and he healed him.

He didn’t even go there.

Yeah.

He just said, your faith has healed him.

Yes.

And he was healed and he like follows up with his peeps back at the house.

And it’s true.

Your son is healed, you know, he’s alive.

He’s back to life.

He’s brought back to life.

Well, at what time?

And it was the same time.

So he didn’t even have to be in the presence to heal people.

Which is incredible because that also means since he is omnipresent, meaning at all places, at all times, he literally doesn’t have to be with you.

Exactly.

But he is with you anyways and could heal you at any moment.

Those are some of the things that stood out to me.

So what does this show you about Jesus?

I read that scripture and I just think of power and compassion.

He uses his power to serve other people.

I love that.

And I think that we can be so selfish sometimes and with what we hold on to. And the power that we have to bring healing to other people.

And we’re trying to live like Jesus.

And it’s like, I want to be able to use that power He’s given me through the Holy Spirit to bring healing to other people.

I love that.

That’s beautiful.

I know, for me, the demon possessed really stands out.

Yeah.

You know, I I myself have walked in darkness and I know others who have.

And knowing that his power can heal that and free you from those things just makes me in so much awe of him.

My favorite thing about the demon-possessed areas is that that the name of Jesus is what makes demons flee.

Exactly.

I mean, not even like his presence, his name.

Like, you call on his name and that makes demons flee.

That is incredible to me.

I love that.

And I think this even boils down to practical life.

Like when your brain is spinning and your thoughts are spinning to not happy thoughts and things.

And that’s the enemy trying to get at you.

Yeah.

And just if you are a believer and you believe that Jesus has that power, I’ve caught myself like, Jesus.

Yes.

Jesus is my God.

Jesus is my Lord.

You have no right to stand here.

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.

Yeah.

And it’s amazing how quickly those thoughts disperse.

Ah, that’s great.

Well, I don’t know why this came to my mind, but as I was reading that passage, you know, with all the different examples, what I remembered was how Jesus had even said to his disciples, it ‘s not my time yet, you know, before that.

Yes.

You know, he kept just saying, it’s not time yet.

And they knew he could do it, you know, and they knew that he could do it, but he wasn’t ready.

And then when he did He did.

He did.

You know, I mean, I think the whole thing was just to show the vast and incredible power of God.

And so holding back until he was really ready and he knew it was his time.

It was just incredible.

I think those three years must have been been very intense and tiring for him.

Oh, yeah.

Because I don’t know, and there’s no theological basis for this, but would healing miraculously like that cost him energy?

I don’t know the answer to that question.

I would I say my mind, I want to say no.

He’s God.

See?

I can see that argument, but I could also see it could make you tired.

Like, I don’t know\.

Because he was in human form at the time.

True.

So So my guess is no.

Right.

But I could also see up, maybe.

Again, no theological basis.

So don’t, don’t don’t claim any of this as truth.

This is just a curious, I wonder question.

But there are days where he’s literally healing all day long.

Yeah.

All day, all day, all day, didn’t really have much to eat.

I could imagine just in the physicality of being in a human body that he he might have gotten tired at the end of that day.

I don’t know.

Maybe, but there are times in the Bible where it tells us that he did that and then retreated for prayer.

Yes.

And that was the restoration to be rest restored.

And so it’s very possible at that time, like what I’m being restored in all ways, not just spiritually, emotionally, mentally, but also physically because I’m going to a time of rest.

So it’s very possible.

Yeah.

I don’t know.

All things I wonder.

Well, then I also think about when the woman in the crowd touches him, you know, the bottom of his cloak.

Yes.

Right.

It tells us, he feels the power leave him.

Yes.

Yeah.

That’s what I was thinking too.

And so that can make you wonder, okay, so His power is coming out and exiting.

Is that making him tired?

But then they don’t refer to him getting tired at that time when that happened.

And so I’m like, okay, so maybe the power comes out, but it doesn’t.

I don’t know.

I don’t know.

We can ask him when we get there.

Yep.

This is definitely an ask when you get there question.

How did that work?

But then I think, too, as us as humans and we have that power living in us and we spend time with someone praying with them, helping them to heal, working through things.

And we walk away.

We are drained.

Yeah.

Sometimes.

Sometimes when I walk away, I’m filled.

True.

Yeah.

It really depends.

Somebody could go both ways.

Yeah, I don’t know.

I’m sure He was also very delighted in the healing that was taking place.

Well, and I’m sure there was a sense of joy, knowing that this person’s whole entire life is about to change.

For the better in so many ways.

And maybe just that joy gave him that cupful as well.

I don’t know.

Well, it’s one thing to read these stories and talk about these stories from scripture, but we’re also sitting here as three women who have lived some life.

Yeah.

So, where have we seen God heal?

We could probably spend 18 hours just diving into all of the moments.

But I would say the categories, right?

I’ve seen God heal, not just me, but friends of mine, close relationships, families.

I’ve seen him bring people we thought would never come to salvation to salvation.

I’ve seen him take people who were addicted to some of the most horrible addictive things and break those addictions.

I’ve seen him take people who were feeling the most broken, become whole.

And I’ve watched people who needed the physical manifestation of a miracle of healing and they got it.

Right?

I’ve also seen the miracle not show up, right?

Even with all of the prayer and all of the whatever, and they’re still waiting for that miracle moment to happen.

And I think there’s something beautiful about that too.

You know, when you’re in the moment where you’re desperate for God and you are just seeking him with all that you have because you need that healing, whether it’s physical or emotional or whatever.

I just think there’s something beautiful about that time.

And you may be healing in ways, even if it’s not the one you’re asking for.

That’s a good word.

And you might not know it until it’s already happened.

Yeah.

Well, I mentioned my dad, you know, I’m sure we’ve all known people that the healing, it had to have come from God.

Right.

It just doesn’t make medical sense.

And then I’ve seen relationships healed.

Yes.

People with trauma, healed.

Plenty of stuff like that.

Yeah.

And it’s just recognizedizing that this isn’t luck and it’s not just, there’s never a coincidence.

You know, when you see stuff like that, you have to acknowledge that this is from God.

The mighty hand of God.

So where in your own life, have you experienced some healing or restoration?

It can be physical, emotional, relational, spiritual, or something completely different.

Yeah, I would say I’ve had a couple and, you know, maybe one of the episodes will dive into this deep, but going from being in that excruciating pain for eight and a half years, not being able to walk more than 2,500 steps in a day or I couldn’t get out of bed the next day.

That kind of suffering, that kind of pain is indescribable.

And so if there are listeners out there that are in that kind of horrific pain where you are barely functional, I understand and I see you and I hear you and I get you and I’m with you.

And thankfully, the Lord released me from that horrific pain.

And the day that it happened, I was in complete disbelief.

I mean, I just couldn’t believe that I woke up and I wasn’t in that same horrific burn.

I still had the ache and I still had the tightness and I still, my muscles don’t grow.

And I, I mean, I still had a lot of residual problems, but the breaking of that burning pain, I cannot tell you what a difference that has made for me.

And so having, coming up to people who saw me for years suffering and just watching them burst into tears and hug me, just, you can’t, you can’t imagine what it was like.

And it was all glory to God.

Like it was a miracle and it happened in one random day.

And, you know, the verses the Lord gives and the Lord takes away this is not necessarily the context of that verse or what it’s intended to be, but I kept talking about it in my mind all the time.

The Lord gave me the affliction for whatever reason, whatever he needed to teach me through it, but he also finally took the affliction away.

And I was so grateful.

Well, I never experienced that kind of physical pain like you, and I don’t know.

I mean, thank God that he healed you.

You know, and I’ve shared my story over these last couple seasons, so I won’t go into that again.

But I can say on a personal level, you know, mine was relational.

Mine was a relational thing.

And, and yet physically, my nervous system got regulated, so that’s great.

That’s how cool.

You know, emotionally, I’m more calm and at peace, spiritually, just healing, even just having more time to be in the presence of God, you know, being able to do devotional time and stuff like that, just feeling like there’s healing there too.

So in so many ways, I have thankfully been able to experience a lot of different kinds of healing.

Yeah, that’s great.

I love that for you.

I’m so glad that the Lord is restoring the years that the locust has stolen.

I just, I’m going to keep saying it.

I’m going to keep saying that verse because that’s how I felt about my journey as well.

The Lord has been restoring the years that the locust had stolen.

And so I’m so grateful that we’re not in that same place anymore and that we are journeying through it and thankful that the Lord never abandoned us in it, even on those days where we felt like he wasn’t close.

He was closer than we were recognizing.

Right.

Absolutely.

I can look back and there’s been some physical healing for sure.

I suffered a lot of years with female issues.

Yes.

And I was told multiple times, you know, you weren’t going to have babies.

And I ended up having four. Gone.

He had a different plan.

But then the older I got, you know, just issues and issues and, you know, it was a battle that the doctor was like, I don’t know if insurance is going to approve and all the things.

And, and the first time we asked the insurance company said yes.

Oh And it was just, I know that was all God.

God was like, you’re done with this and I’m going to take care of you.

So that was amazing.

And, you know, I’ve had a lot of emotional healing through my life through my trauma.

But I think my biggest healing and restoration was him welcoming me back.

That spiritual healing, that’s taken place, cleansing, loving me unconditionally.

I love that. Has been probably my the biggest blessing that he’s bestowed upon me when it comes to healing.

I’m still praying for some relational healing.

As we all are.

As we all.

But, you know, in God’s timing and whatever he has planned.

That’s beautiful.

I can agree.

I’ve also had the emotional healings and that spiritual healing of having your father wrap his arms around you when you’re just feeling like a schmuck, you know, and just being able to really enjoy the lavish love that he gives to us is incredible.

It is amazing.

Yeah.

And he cares for all of our needs, but don’t you think the spiritual he healing is the one that is the most important to him?

Oh, yeah.

You know, I mean.

It’s also the most important to us.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, that’s what he’s going to use these other things in our life. You know, and the real thing of it is he wants our spiritual healing, period.

I would agree with you.

I’ve never actually thought about that, but you’re right.

How about this?

I think he does.

He wants our spirits healed.

I don’t know.

I like it.

That might be our next bumper sticker.

Is your spirit healed?

Jesus wants it.

Well, the healings we just talked about, were they sudden or was it a process?

And I would say for me both, I had that sudden miracle and I’ve had several sudden miracles of healing, and then I’ve had the long drudgery of a slow process for some of the healings.

What about for you guys?

I think it’s been a process.

Yeah.

Except, you know, when I think of my spiritual healing, and the moment I came back to him falling on my knees for him, it was immediate.

I love that.

You know, an immediate. Restoration with him.

And I’ve not turned back since then.

And then there’s other pieces of my spiritual walk that’s been a process of healing, right?

Like repentance and trust and, you know, those things have been a process of working of him working through me.

So I think, yeah, both when it comes to mine, physical healing, I unfortunately feel like was a long process.

Yeah.

Take some time.

The immediate healing was the mental aspect when I got the yes from the insurance company.

Yes.

That was like an immediate healing of stress.

I love that.

I actually had the opposite thing happen.

I literally can remember the day. I know what I was basically wearing and I know where I was. And I had asked them for a significant test to figure out what was wrong with my legs and because they didn’t know.

And they had denied me. And I had called the next level up and gave them the whole spiel.

This is why I need this significant test, and this is what I’m hoping to get out of it.

And these are the problems I’m living with. You know, and I explained the whole situation and on the phone, the guy said, absolutely not.

We’re not doing it.

Wow.

I was devastated and crushed. Right. And so I think it’s so great that you had the opposite.

I’m sorry you walk through that.

It was horrible.

That’s how life goes sometimes, guys.

Well, have you ever prayed for one kind of healing and eventually realized God was doing something different than what you expected?

Every time.

I just have to chuckle because I always feel like it’s that way.

100%.

Yeah.

I’m like, okay, God, just let me on your plan a little bit.

If only, if only you could tell us which way we’re going.

Right.

Oh, man.

You know, I think of the example of like praying for God to heal a relationship.

Yes.

Please heal this relationship.

Please, God, do a work.

And no, he’s not going to heal it.

Yeah.

We’re going to, we’re moving it on.

Yeah.

Moving on to something else.

So, not what I imagined.

Right.

And I think as we pray those prayers of healing and not seeing it happen, we literally have to start asking ourselves, okay, what should I be praying for?

Right.

And so it is, should I be praying for release from this?

Should I be praying for my own?

Like, what in me do I need to heal specifically if I’m looking at something outside of me to be healed?

What more to this is there?

And just asking God in, show me.

We know there’s lots of varieties of ways that God answers prayer.

And when you get a wait answer, which we said earlier, none of us really like the wait answer.

Okay.

But But it happens.

But it happens.

When you get the wait answer, eight and a half years is a long time to wait in excruciating pain.

So in the middle of that eight and a half years, I think he was also softening my heart for people and things in ways that I didn’t know was going to happen.

I am so much more conscientious about people who are in walkers and people who are using canes and people who might need a door held open for them, not because they can’t do it themselves.

I believe they can, but you know what?

If I could make someone’s day, like an ounce of pain easier for them by grabbing their door for them or grabbing their cart at the grocery store and putting it away so that they don’t have to do the extra 15 steps, which for most of us, doesn’t matter.

But for me, when I was counting my steps, those 15 steps meant, could I get out of bed tomorrow or not?

Right.

Right.

And so I think the Lord was healing different parts of me that I didn’t know needed to be healed while I was living through that.

I just think there’s more to what we’re asking for.

And if we want to see people from God’s eyes, if that’s ever been one of your prayers, I used to pray that all the time, Lord, let me see others the way you see them.

You know, sometimes you got to feel the pain with them because they’re what they’re walking through.

You know, it builds a different type of empathy to just love people differently.

I don’t know if that makes sense.

No, it does make sense.

I think he is always working on a part of us that we don’t know until we’re then put into a situation and we go, oh, this is what the wait was for. Because I’ve grown in this area, that area in growing your heart for a certain population of people who are walking through something similar is so that you can use your testimony.

Right?

To guide them to Jesus.

Right.

Well, and it actually has spurred on those types of conversations where people are like, why are you helping me?

And I could say, I was in a walker for a long time and I just, I know the pain.

I understand it.

And they were like, what?

And I was like, yes.

And Jesus miraculously healed me.

And they’re like, tell me more, you know?

And so we’ve definitely had those moments in the parking lot.

So that’s awesome.

Well, what did that experience teach you about God?

He’s transforming all parts of me.

And not for me and my selfish desires.

He’s transforming all parts of me for his glory and his good and his kingdom to further the work of spreading the good news.

It always reminds me that his plan is always better.

I know.

Always better.

So much bigger than what we think it is.

Yeah.

And he’ll use all of our circumstances, all of our pain, all of our suffering.

It won’t be wasted.

Right.

It’s never wasted.

He’s using it either to grow us or someone else who’s watching us.

I had lunch with a friend a couple months ago and she started to explain stuff to me and I was like, oh, the Lord put me like a step ahead of her in the timeline so that we could talk about some of the deeper things that are happening in her.

And I was like, man, Lord, I’m so grateful to not be in that step still.

I’m in the next step, but also like, I’m glad that I can empathize with her and, you know, know what it’s like.

So it was a really to bring comfort.

Yeah.

It was super sweet.

And to be able to say, the Lord isn’t finished yet.

Right.

You’re partway through.

Don’t give up, you know, to give that sort of inspiration of, this is not the end of the story.

The story continues and God is doing something.

So keep going.

It was really sweet.

I love love that.

Yeah.

Of course, there’s another side of this conversation too.

Sometimes we pray for healing and we don’t get the answer we desperately want it.

For sure.

Definitely has had that happen.

Yeah.

I mentioned the relationship that I wanted to keep.

Yeah.

You know, I mean, people want healing from cancer or whatever it is, and that’s not the way it goes.

Yeah.

Sometimes the answer is no.

Yeah.

It’s so hard.

And we don’t want to talk about the healing power of Jesus without being honest about that reality too.

So we’re going to spend some time there later this season.

But from the beginning, we want to make room for both things.

The reality that Jesus heals and the reality that sometimes healing doesn’t look the way we prayed that it would.

Have you ever had to rethink what healing meant because God didn’t answer the way you expected?

Like every day. Does that count? Can I say that out loud?

Yeah, you can say that out loud.

Yeah, I mean, especially, I mean, obviously the eight and a half years thing, every day, I was like, Lord, why is this not being healed?

I have sought your face. I have been in your word. I have been worshiping with you.

I have been trying to speak to you, you know, in a nonstop prayer for how many years or months or whatever.

And it’s like, Lord, I don’t, I don’t know why the healing isn’t there.

And at eight and a half years, you start to think this is going to be my new normal. Like this is going to be the rest of my life.

So definitely.

And there have been other times where I was praying for emotional or relational or spiritual or, you know, other things and the answers definitely did not come the way I anticipated.

But it’s funny because even though it didn’t come the way I was praying for, I still recognized it.

And I was able to go, Lord, that’s the answer you just gave me to this prayer that I had been praying and you solved it in such a totally different way than I saw it playing out and how beautiful it is that you had a better plan for me.

And so definitely have seen him move in ways that were unexpectedly great.

That is cool.

Well, and if he’s looking to, at our spiritual health, yeah, you know, some of those things are not going to happen.

I might be thinking about what I think healing means, but God has a bigger plan that he’s working on my spiritual health.

And it’s to trust him.

It is to be patient. It’s to practice the fruit of the spirit.

It’s all of that.

And so if he wants me to grow in my patience, guess what?

You’re waiting.

I try not to pray that. That prayer, guys.

Don’t pray for patience, because guess what?

I think you’re right. You talked about practicing the fruit of the spirit. Sometimes it’s not, we don’t have it to even practice.

He’s using that time to grow it no matter what it might be, the love of people, experiencing joy through hardship, patience, right?

All these things, self-control.

Kindness, how are you kind to people?

You know, and faithfulness, you’re continuing to seek him and rely on him for your needs.

All of these things, you may need to grow.

Yeah.

And so he’s using whatever that waiting period might be to grow those things.

Yeah, 100%.

So it’s a conversation between you and God and scripture and pastor, close friends who are also seeking Jesus to get some confirmation and determining of the areas that you got to work on.

Yeah.

I don’t think we like to work on things.

Right?

I think, I think it’s both. Well, it’s really hard, no.

Yeah.

Right?

If it’s like.

I like to work on the easy things because I can see the progress quickly.

Exactly. Exactly.

It’s the hard.

But things that are harder are take you out of your comfort zone a lot. Those are the ones you struggle with. I struggle with.

Yeah, for sure.

How do we talk about the healing power of Jesus without making someone who hasn’t received a miracle feel as though she didn’t pray enough, believe enough, or have enough faith?

I really think this is an important question, and I’ll tell you why.

So a friend of mine needed healing. We went to this prayer conference that was supposed to give healing.

They didn’t get healed. I didn’t get healed.

And we were both a little bit intimidated to go back into that conference again or those people again or that church again, because our healing didn’t come yet.

And so part of us were like, oh, no, did we not have enough faith? Did we not believe that the healing could come?

We were feeling like it was our fault that the healing hadn’t happened. And so I think this is a really important thing to emphasize.

Yeah.

What do you guys think about this?

I agree because I even for myself have had times where I’ve questioned, was my faith not strong enough to not receive the answer that I wanted?

Yeah.

Right.

Or the healing that I wanted.

You know, and I mentioned I’m living in a time period of praying for relational healing and it’s been a long time.

Yes.

And it hasn’t come.

Right.

So you do start to question, do I not believe enough?

Do I not enough? Am I not worthy enough? Am I, you know, like all the things, God, what is it?

And he’s been showing me, that’s the areas that I’m growing, right? That he’s growing me in.

It’s a constant, like every Bible study, a scripture, it’s somewhere. It’s like, trust, surrender, trust, surrender, trust, surrender.

And you’re like, okay.

That’s hard.

And so I’ve, my prayers have evolved really and changed through that, praying that I would completely surrender to God and trust him with the plan no matter what that plan is.

If that plan is a no to the healing or a yes to the healing, like that I have enough faith in God to accept either one.

And I think that I feel like breakthroughs coming in either direction because I’m at that place of like, okay, God, whatever you want to do, do.

And I think it’s really important that you get to that place before you get the no.

Because I think sometimes if you’re not at that place yet and you get the no, that’s where we receive people’s faith gets shaken.

Right.

Right.

And maybe they even walk away from their faith for a minute because they felt like I had prayed and you didn’t answer, you know?

And I feel like it’s possible you might not get the yes in the way you are praying for it.

You may still get the situation resolved, but it may be a totally different outcome than you were praying for or hoping for. A third option comes up and you’re like, oh, I didn’t even think of that one.

Right.

But I feel like it’s so important that the spirit of contentment that I think it’s Paul talks about, where it doesn’t matter if I’ve got plenty or if I am want.

It doesn’t matter if everything is going well or if I’m sitting in a jail cell, you know, writing letters to all the churches I visited, right?

That spirit of contentment of, I know the Lord has me and I know the Lord has this situation. And whatever the outcome is, I’m still going to trust him.

Right.

Exactly.

Well, and you bring up Paul and, I mean, what a great example to share with somebody who’s feeling like she didn’t pray enough. She didn’t believe enough.

Look at Paul.

I’m certain that he prayed to be healed.

Yes.

You know, even more than, let me get out of this jail, God. You know, so to have that kind of physical pain and then just be stuck there.

There’s an example where someone really believed and yet God used him mightily in his circumstances.

Right.

We needed all those lets letters.

I was going to say, I’m still using him today.

Yeah.

I needed all those letters.

Thank you.

Well, we’re going to spend the next several weeks looking at some incredible encounters with Jesus, which I’m so excited about.

We’re going to talk more in depth about most of the stories you guys brought up today.

So I’m excited about that.

Some involve physical healing, some involve shame and failure and spiritual blindness and grief and forgiveness, dignity, purpose, restoration.

I mean, we’ve got a whole bunch of different things to look at.

We don’t know exactly what we’re going to discover yet, which can be a little scary.

Yes.

But maybe that’s part of the invitation to keep looking toward Jesus instead of spending all of our time looking at what’s broken.

I love that.

It’s so important.

Man, that is such… in itself. I don’t know if I have words for that.

Honestly, like it hits in the soul of like being able to spend time with Jesus and looking at how we’ve been healed rather than focusing on what’s broken.

Yeah.

Because that’s so heavy.

There is a lot that’s been broken, but if we can focus on Jesus, we know that we’re restored.

We know what we’re healed.

Right.

And I don’t have to live in that.

I mean, it takes away the shame.

It takes away the grief.

It takes away the pain.

It literally takes away everything that possibly I am carrying.

Exactly.

Because I’m carrying it and it lets me drop it down and it lets me focus on what Jesus has done instead.

I love that.

Beautiful.

Well, as we begin this season, season three healed. What do you hope we discover about Jesus?

It might be just that.

It might be.

I don’t know if I, I think I know so much about Jesus. His power, his strength, all the things.

But I think what I would love to discover is like how that influences me.

Yeah.

Like, what about Jesus really draws me to him and understanding his, he’s not something that’s so far off, like really discovering that true friendship with Jesus.

I love that.

What about for you?

Just more of him, just experiencing more of him.

Yeah.

I mean, I’m excited to take a look at these different examples of the people that he healed. But again, like you said, you know, it’s kind of like, what about me?

Why me?

You know, I mean, that in and of itself, that God would heal me and heal my heart. It’s amazing. So just getting closer to Jesus.

I love that.

This was in the 90s. So this was a while ago. Late 90s. One of my students, fantastic singers, still singing today and has done all kinds of really amazing work in the industry.

He sang the song, Heal Me, and I danced to that song because it was really just sort of my testimony of what I needed at the time, right?

It’s so interesting when you think about healing me. Like, is there, is there a way that you could heal me so that I actually feel healed too?

You know?

Like, I think, I think this is going to be an interesting season and I’m excited to not only be able to go back and recount all the beautiful things he’s healed us from and all of the miracles that he has actually done, but also to be able to go, these are the things that are still not quite right in my life, but I’m going to choose to be healed because that healing is coming one way or another.

Right.

Whether it’s on this side of heaven or the next side, that healing is coming. So I love the idea of not being focused on what’s broken.

And maybe that’s our invitation for you this week, too. As we begin this season, think about what the word healed means to you.

Maybe there are places where you’ve experienced God’s healing and restoration that you haven’t recognized as healing before.

For sure.

Or maybe you’re still waiting and wondering what healing could look like in a place that still hurts.

That’s good.

Wherever you find yourself, we hope you’ll join us as we keep turning our attention toward Jesus and discovering what it means to be healed.

As we wrap up today’s episode, we would like to read Jeremiah 17:14.

Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed. Save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

I love this verse.

Let’s pray.

Father God, we are so grateful.

We’re so grateful for your word.

We are so grateful to be able to start this new season on being healed.

God, we know you have so much in store for us.

We don’t want to focus on our brokenness. We want to focus instead on what you have healed and what you still are doing in our lives and in the lives around us.

Thank you for your scriptures that are loaded with examples of your healing.

God, we just pray that you would bring women to listen to this podcast who are experiencing things that are painful and difficult in their lives and who need your healing.

God, we just pray that this would really minister to their heart.

We love you, Lord.

We love this opportunity to share about your goodness.

We just pray that you would bless this podcast and those who listen to it, in your name.

Amen.

Amen.

Thanks for joining us around the table.

Let’s link arms and keep looking to Jesus together.

May you draw close to God as we begin to explore His healing power.

As we close, we pray that you would notice Jesus meeting you in the ordinary moments of your week.

He loves you.

He sees you.

He is fighting for you.

For show notes, resources, to answer the reflection of the week, visit LifeReclaimed.net

If this conversation encouraged you, consider subscribing or leaving a rating and review. It helps other women find a seat at the table.

Until we’re together again, may the grace and peace of Jesus go with you.

Matthew 4:23–24 (NIV) – Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.

Jeremiah 17:14 (NIV) – Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed;
    save me and I will be saved,
    for you are the one I praise.

Joel 2:25 (NIV) – “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—
    the great locust and the young locust,
    the other locusts and the locust swarm—
my great army that I sent among you.

Job 1:21 – “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Music Mentioned

“Heal Me” by Aaron Jeffries

Biblical Accounts Mentioned

Biblical Account	Scripture Reference
Jesus restores Peter after his denial	John 21:15–19
Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well	John 4:1–42
Jesus heals the woman who had been bleeding	Mark 5:25–34
Jesus raises Jairus’s daughter	Mark 5:21–43
Jesus heals the man at the pool of Bethesda	John 5:1–15
Jesus heals an official’s son from a distance	John 4:46–54
Paul’s thorn in the flesh and God’s sufficient grace	2 Corinthians 12:7–10
Paul’s contentment in all circumstances	Philippians 4:11–13