By: Steve Wilmot
Edgerton, Ohio
Jesus came to heal. Our sicknesses and diseases. Our hearts blackened by the ravages of sin—sin we’ve committed ourselves and sins committed against us by others.
Our minds of faulty philosophies rooted in lies inspired by Satan. Our spirits and souls trapped by hurts, habits, and hang-ups.
It would be nice if healing came with a snap of Jesus’ fingers, but it usually doesn’t. That’s not a reflection on Jesus’ ability or desire to heal. It’s just that sometimes we must do something first.
There were times Jesus looked for faith he would heal before he did. Other times he told people to do something first. On some occasions, he asked the sick person what he wanted Jesus to do for him.
James spells out another thing Jesus waits on from us before he heals: “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5.16).
See the “so that” in this verse? It means something must happen before something else can happen. If we want to be healed, something must happen first. In this verse it’s our willingness to confess our sins to someone and have them pray for our healing.
That’s not something I knew growing up. No one ever told me that large chunks of the Christian life are about community. Doing life together.
The “Lone Ranger” lifestyle felt comfortable and right to me. I was okay that my spiritual journey was Jesus and me. But it’s not. Not by a long shot. The Bible makes clear repeatedly that our spiritual journey is not Jesus and me; it’s Jesus and we.
According to James that’s true about our healing, too. He claims recovery comes when we connect with a friend, remove the mask we’ve hidden the truth about our struggles, failures, and imperfections behind, and tell him the sins we wrestle with—and lose more times than we’d like—and ask him to pray for our healing.
It doesn’t matter who you are, you need healing from something. Memories. Hurts. Addictions. Guilt. Worries. Cancer.
How do you find healing? Admit your battle with sin to at least one other person. You can be forgiven just between God and you. But you can’t get healed that way.
If you want to be healed, you must tell somebody. If you want to stop being haunted by that memory, you must tell somebody.
If you want to get over that hurt, you must tell somebody. If you want to break free from that addiction, you must tell somebody. Healing only comes when we’re in an open, honest relationship with someone.
You don’t need to stand in front of a crowd of people and tell them all your sins and faults. But you need to tell someone. Someone you trust not to blab your sins to everyone they meet.
Someone you know who loves you unconditionally. Someone who will pray for you. Someone who will walk beside you as you heal day by day.
Someone who, when you begin to fall back into that sin, will take you aside and tell you to continue doing the things you need to do to be healed.
Do you have a few people like that in your life? How about one? If not, you need to begin to find a few. Now, not later.
God never intended for you to go through life on your own—struggling with your problems, heartaches, and tragedies alone. We really do need each other.
“Two are better than one… If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up… Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves” (Ecclesiastes 4.9, 10, 12).
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Steve Wilmot is a former Edgerton, Ohio area pastor who now seeks “to still bear fruit in old age” through writing. He is the author of seven books designed to assist believers to make steady progress on their spiritual journey.
