When He was on this earth, Jesus overcame both the world and the devil.
Then why are we still struggling with them?
Because it is through the battle that we become overcomers.
Settle it, then, that part of the healing process will be a struggle and warfare, so that we can learn to depend on Jesus for training, strategy, strength, and leadership.
As whole persons we are willing to be wounded and rejected, even in the same way, by the same person, if God so desires. Many of us have been taught that our main goals in life are to protect ourselves from being hurt and to keep from making mistakes. But this is not God’s way. Jesus was the ultimate example of being willing to be wounded because the Father asked Him to, and since He “learned” obedience, He also made mistakes as part of the process. Remember, He was in all ways tempted as we are, including being tempted to discouragement and self-blame because of failures during the learning process. But as we learn to depend on God for His life, we become “tender hearted yet thick skinned,” remembering that the church was never meant to be a sanctuary from the world.
Learning to live as healed, whole persons takes time, especially taking into account that some of the generational wounds we will be coming up against have been passed down from Adam. But Jesus can undo them all in an instant if He chooses, so our attitude is one of persistence and patience.
Getting healed challenges us to freedom, which entails responsibility to grow up in our soul and body into sons and joint-heirs. We can no longer get away with letting our mind think what it wants, letting our emotions dictate our actions, or making decisions based on our own assessment—this is where God’s discipline comes in. His ways are not soulical, and as we learn to walk by the spirit, by His freedom, we will also learn the discipline and responsibility that comes with it. We learn to walk in wholeness (“I am a spirit, I have a soul, I live in a body”) in total dependence on Christ.
The more healed we get, the more we recognize and experience our need for God. The more dependent we become, the less control our soul (mind, will and emotions) has over its environment. As we are healed, we become less and less under the influence of our own thoughts, decisions, and emotions. This will at times feel and look like being out of control, though we are actually coming under the greatest spiritual discipline, the strictest control of our spirit. This too will bring separation from both the world system and other believers that haven’t experienced this freedom.
The more we experience healing, the more of God’s life is flowing to and through us. Part of that life is the desire to carry out His purposes on this earth. He chooses how He works through each one of us, yet in every circumstance He is also teaching us to grow up into the full stature as His Son Jesus learned while He walked this earth. Though the task of redemption has been completed, each of us has a project (or projects) God wants us to be working on while we are here. Not because He needs us to do it, but because part of our dependence training is learning how to wisely steward our inheritance, the Kingdom.
As we are healed, we not only agree that God is everything, but that He is enough. We become content to the degree that if our circumstances never changed, that would be okay. If the promises that He has made were never fulfilled, that would be okay. If we never felt His presence again, that would be okay. As we are healed we realize that ministry, relationships, even supernatural experiences do not satisfy. Only knowing God through dependence fills our needs, which is why Jesus Himself could say, “My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me.” As we are healed we are satisfied with the freedom to work, and the contentment of His rest to enjoy that freedom.
We are spending a good deal of time on the process and details of getting healed because it is important to God as well as to us. It is imperative, however, that we not form a new identity of being a “Wounded Person,” even a “Wounded Person Getting Healed.” Who you truly are, in your spirit, is NOT wounded, and doesn’t need healing. Your true identity is as a spirit being, whole, complete, perfect and entire NOW. Keep things in perspective; though we give this learning process the time and attention it deserves, we don’t give it ALL of our time and attention.
Conclusion: Overcoming Hindrances
Overcoming the hindrances to getting healed is a process that can be learned. As in all other aspects of the relationship between our soul and our spirit, there is a dichotomy of activity. We don’t get healed, or even learn to get healed, out of our own strength, but we join God on His terms in the teaching and healing He is doing in our lives. We recognize what He’s doing, asking for ways to join Him, willingly making mistakes as we learn. Success will not depend on how we feel, think or act, so don’t count on it feeling good (or bad), being easy (or hard), or making sense (or no sense). The results of learning to get healed are worth the effort, though, as we’ll soon see.
Part of entering into rest is learning to step back and look at our situation practically and objectively. We need to remind ourselves of the restrictions that God has allowed in our lives, such as our physical limitations, temperament, personal history, and flesh patterns. This will hopefully keep us from blowing things out of proportion. For instance, maybe you’ve had to miss sleep in order to finish a work project. You find yourself short-tempered with your co-workers and critical of yourself and those around you. Don’t assume that there is a hidden wound! Though there may well be, it is just as likely to be a physiological reaction to physical stress (lack of sleep). Step back and assess what the stresses are in your life from a practical perspective, then ask God for His perspective: “God, is there a wound you want to heal here or is this just from being sleep-deprived?” The answer may be both, but at least you will be responding according to the truth of the situation. You will then not only be able to apologize to those you’ve been rude to, if necessary, but you can let yourself off the hook as well by depending on God to either bring you healing or provide you instruction on the practical matters, such as how to improve your work or time management habits.
God doesn’t like it when we decide on our own which wounds need to be healed or which we think we have to learn to live with. Whatever our need, we are to ask the Lord to meet it. Whatever our wound, we are to ask the Lord to heal it. Talk to Him about it, giving Him time to respond, asking Him to reveal any hindrances, and be ready to respond. Respect Him, personally and directly, regarding all your needs. This will bring you into dependence as the initiative and motivation for our lives is transferred from us to Him. We learn to actively abdicate our rights, turning them over to His government, trusting Him to lead us into all truth, acknowledging that though we don’t know what we need, He does, and has it waiting for us.