Prepare ye the way of the Lord

Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Mark 1:2-3 (KJV)

Healing is an intimately personal encounter between the sick and the healer. Ultimately, the healer is the Lord himself. Anyone claiming to be a faith-healer or a otherwise-healer is usurping the rightful place of God in the encounter. What with our modern medicine and technology, we have largely forgotten who our true healer is. Physicians do not heal, nurses do not heal, magicians does not heal, witch-doctors do not heal, shrinks do not heal, shamans do not heal, medicines do not heal, operations do not heal, faith does not heal, herbs do not heal, clean living does not heal, meditation does not heal, chanting does not heal, love does not heal, optimism does not heal, positive thinking does not heal, nothing heals -- you get my drift. God heals, the Lord heals, the Healer alone heals. And I know of only one true healer -- Jesus the crucified and resurrected Son of God.

The sick is weak in mind and body, but most often stubborn in spirit. They will yield to anyone who promises healing for a price, large or small. But they seldom give heed to the true healer who offers healing without a price, a divine gift, a free hand. Faith in the true healer demands poverty of the spirit, purity of the heart, ordering of the mind, cleansing of the body. Faith demands a straight path, a wide road, a super highway through the wilderness of our soul to be made for the healer.

Jesus charged and sent his disciples into the world, not just to heal, but to preach and heal -- preach the good news and heal the sick. The messenger first prepare the way of the Lord by preaching the good news of redemption, then delivers the gift of God that heals/liberates/satisfies/uplifts/energizes/transforms the one with the sickness unto death into the one with life everlasting.

The healing that brings only temporary remission of the sickness is incomplete. The healing that requires chronic medication is burdensome. The healing that enslaves the sick to his sickness is addictive. The healing that relieves the symptom but feeds the disease is short-sighted.

We have much to learn about true healing from the true healer himself. We who believe in faith healing are the messenger who prepare his way in the wilderness of sickness. We are the voice that cries "Make straight a path in your soul for the true Healer of your sickness unto death." We believe in miracles, beyond science, beyond medicine, beyond religion, beyond psychology, beyond magic/voodoo/witchcraft/shamanism/herbs/acupuncture/massage/mind-games, beyond you and me. There is one coming after the messenger who has the true power to heal, who turns sickness to health, sorrow to joy, and even death to resurrection.

If you are moved by my message, answer my call to follow my healer, and let my message into your life that you may have life eternal.

Let us pray:

I am sick of body, wounded of heart, stricken of mind, and weary of spirit. Heal me O Lord Jesus, by the laying on of hand of your faithful messenger who has delievered to me this good news of redemption and healing from you. Amen