My body is struggling. I never know what awaits me when I wake up each morning. Will I have a lot of pain, or just a little. How long will my muscles be stiff? Will I have head, neck and eye pain. Or will it be a “good” day?
I have often sought prayer for “healing.” I am open to healing. I know God heals bodies; I’ve seen it firsthand.
When praying for others, I often hear people recite the verse from Isaiah 53:5, “by His stripes we are healed,” or the repeat of that verse in 1 Peter 2:24, “by His wounds you have been healed.”
Occasionally, I have witnessed that verse used as a rebuke – to those whose physical healing doesn’t manifest. And I have witnessed the burden for a lack of healing placed squarely on the heart of the one not healed, labeled as a “lack of faith.”
If we “are healed” as Isaiah said, and “have been healed” as Peter wrote, what does that mean. Is there more depth to healing than merely physical?
The Hebrew word for “healed” in Isaiah is “rapha,” and the Greek word for “healed” in 1 Peter is “iaomai.” The thing about both of those words is that while both can refer to physical healing, neither are limited to physical healing. In fact, both encompass so much more!
Tomorrow “Rapha.”