“From the Inside Out”
“Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:1-5
You may already be familiar with CT scans, a sophisticated x-ray procedure used to examine internal organs, structures and tissues. Multiple pictures are taken and then put together to provide cross-sectional images of the body. CT scans can be done with or without contrast. When the DR wants to make the organs and structures easier to see, he/she will order a contrasting agent. The contrasting agent is an iodine dye that you drink and/or have injected via an IV tube. When the dye is injected into your body it floods through your veins giving you a warm sensation all over and leaving a metallic taste in your mouth. Once the procedure is completed, the pictures are read and interpreted by a highly-trained radiologist. If something abnormal is found, a diagnosis can be made and treatment can be started.
As a Christian, one of the things I have struggled with the most is understanding why God allows bad things to happen, particularly to those who love Him, serve Him, and genuinely seek to do His will. Shouldn’t being a Christian, loving God, and serving Him at church and elsewhere give me a free pass? Shouldn’t life be a proverbial bed of roses for the remainder of my life? I have to say…I was shocked…and then mad at God when I realized it didn’t work that way.
At first I thought it was because I wasn’t “good enough.” I bought into the lie that God’s love was conditional, that He only loved me when I was “perfect” and begrudged me and allowed bad things to happen in my life in response to my many failures. Perhaps you have bought into this lie, too, and it is buried deep in your own heart, just as it was in mine.
I have finally come to realize that when God allows the bad things, often one of the reasons is that they act as a contrasting agent in a person’s life, to reveal to that person their true character and beliefs…not just the outward mask we all put on to fool others and ourselves. Difficult, painful times, just as a contrasting dye, flood through your inner being to your very core and always leave a bitter taste in your mouth. And, just as contrasting dye, they reveal what you’re really made of…your heart issues and attitudes, your weaknesses, any “cancers” inside your soul, and the strongholds in your life. You see, God doesn’t place His greatest priority on our comfort and happiness…on giving us a life that’s a bed of roses. His greatest desire is for each one of us to have a relationship with Him…to know Him in His perfect, faithful love and goodness…and to allow Him to heal us and change us…and then to share Him with others who are suffering from their own diseases.
I have had multiple CT scans both literally and figuratively. What was my diagnosis? I had deep-seated issues with trusting God and believing that God loved me unconditionally, and that He was good-even when He allowed the hard times. I had strongholds of fear and anxiety that I let control me and keep me imprisoned. I had “cancers” of anger and resentment, unforgiveness, and a critical spirit. And I had weaknesses in my obedience to His commands and in allowing the Holy Spirit to work in me. What would your scan show?
The wondrous thing about it is that neither my nor your diagnosis is a life sentence…they aren’t incurable. God doesn’t reveal these “hard to face up to issues” in order to condemn us. He reveals them so that treatment and healing can begin. He is the Great Physician! And, If I allow Him to work inside me…in my inner being… in my heart, mind, and soul…He will patiently reveal and heal all that keeps me from living in His freedom and perfect love. There is no quick fix…there is NO OTHER lasting fix.
God longs to lavish His healing power on you. The Master Physician awaits for you to turn to Him and turn over to Him your own diseases, conditions, and “cancers.” In His perfect love for you, He longs to free you and give you His strength, His peace, His purpose! Let Him! And, let the healing begin!
Father,
I praise You and thank You for your healing power. Give me the courage to face my diseases, conditions, and “cancers,” and to turn them over to You so that You can heal me. You are loving and good. And, You are faithful to heal me as I allow the Holy Spirit to work inside me.
In Your son, Jesus,’ precious name, Amen.
“From the Inside Out” by Hillsong
