Healing

A week ago at Via Christus we talked about healing from Luke 17 with the ten people with leprosy. Then last night a friend and I had a conversation about healing in the context of the Episcopalian church being a place of healing.

Does God desire to heal our brokenness? I remember a few years ago reading "Mere Christianity" and getting really excited that the goal of humanity is to become like Christ. Not that we will achieve it on this side of eternity however we can make efforts toward that goal.

The process toward perfection and Christ-likeness seems to also include healing from brokenness. But is that something that comes in this lifetime? Is that healing from brokenness a prerequisite for ministering? Is brokenness a necessary component of the minister?

At the beginning of the conversation I tended to feel that in my particular instance healing was not going to occur in this lifetime. I feel like this particular brokenness has caused growth in so many areas of my life and has given me authority to minister to other broken people. Without this burden perhaps I would grow content or would loose my validity.

But my friend tossed in an idea of Malachi 3:10 and following about God daring Israel to be faithful with their tithe and see if God will be faithful to his people. This friend said that God was daring me to believe my brokenness can be healed and see if God is not faithful to that.

Now I'm curious. What does healing look like? It is different for different folks. Even in Luke 17, the man with leprosy asked Jesus to have pity on them. I guess asking for pity resulted in physical healing and spiritual cleansing. Perhaps I need the same.

So anyway, I'm just wondering about healing and whether it is necessary to be effective in ministry? And I'm also wondering if God desires our brokenness to be healed or does He desire for us to have transformed lives? Can we be transformed without healing (experience for me says yes)? Just seeking ideas. If anyone would like to join in the wondering feel free.