"Your healing will come through obedience.” I heard the phrase as loud as if someone were shouting it next to my ear—except it was in my spirit. I knew it came from God because it interrupted my day like a jackhammer on an old slab of concrete, breaking down my inner walls. It would be a phrase that would echo through my mind and reverberate into my being for months, if not years to come.
Initially, my response was about as enthusiastic as it would have been trudging my way to the principal’s office.
“Great. What’s that supposed to mean, God? I am walking obediently (sort of)! Don’t You see everything I’m doing for You? I have even laid down my personal God-gifted desires to serve others! I’m saying yes to everything and being a team player! I’m going above and beyond in every area! Don’t you see the sacrifices I’m making for You? If You love me so much, why in the heck are You allowing this to happen to me? What did I do wrong to deserve this?”
I can smile comically about my rantings in retrospect. I’m so thankful that we can get mad at God and yell and scream all we want, but it doesn’t scare Him one bit. It also doesn’t move Him an inch. His answer is still the same; His purpose remained immovable.
God values us too much to compromise our relationship with Him, or our destiny in Him by bowing to our demands.
It was when I fully surrendered that I saw change begin. As I sat at the feet of Jesus in the weeks that followed, He gently placed His voice into the daily rhythms of my life. My heart began to mend. My spirit rested in His every word.
I realized I was running. Running, like Jonah, from what He was asking me to do all the while running a marathon holding a million Jamie-treasures in my grasp. They were heavy treasures. Oh so heavy, and I tried to maintain them all and not loose one. But I was running in a way and carrying in a way that wasn't reliant on God. I didn't have time to rely on Him ... but now I know I don't have time to not rely on Him.
The act of healing does indeed take a tremendous amount of courage. Healing required a great deal of wisdom and direction from God and a willingness to move forward His way. It could be physical healing, or maybe healing from mindsets that keep us from His best.
Join me next week as we dig deep into scripture and learn from a man who was healed by simply responding to God's direction in obedience.
"God has healing in your future this year, my sweet friend. Lean in. Release. Do it God's way and watch the courage to heal bloom in your life."
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Want more resources? Check out this podcast with Sadie Robertson Huff and Ann Voskamp on True Change comes through the cross and how your story matters.
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