Previously we looked at some specific hindrances to getting healed and some ways to overcome them. Now we’re going to apply some of the principles we’ve learned to overcoming hindrances to getting healed. One of the greatest hindrances to getting healed is being unwilling to question and change our beliefs, so be sure to respond to the Lord as He brings to the surface beliefs or concepts that He wants to review with you. If a belief is Truth, it will stand up to scrutiny. Over your lifetime you will continue to develop, change and discard beliefs as God develops new ones, based on your personal experiences of knowing and depending on Him. When a belief comes into question, a good way to start a dialogue with God is to ask yourself, “Is what I’m believing working for me? Is it bringing me into dependence on God, and therefore bringing me freedom, rest and wholeness?” Don’t depend on your mind to draw logical conclusions from that which God has only revealed in part. Be sure to give the Lord opportunity to respond Personally.

Overcome Hindrances By Recognizing God’s Timing

God is not in a hurry, and neither is who we truly are, our spirit being. But our soul and body are often in a rush, especially if the wound, whether soulical or physical, is causing us great pain or interfering with our life plans or relationships. Recognize that God’s seeming lack of movement on our behalf is not evidence of His disinterest or our error, but simply a matter of His timing. God knows the plans He has for us, and in our spirit we have already agreed with Him to pursue things His way. Be prepared to give this time and attention, investing in the long term. This will require patience, which in turn requires dependence.

Healing happens in different ways at different times:

Progressively As believers we exist on a healing continuum. On one end is the unhealthy condition we were in when God enlivened us and made us new creatures, like Lazarus as he was raised from the tomb, yet still bound in graveclothes. On the other end of the spectrum is the completely whole, healed, unified being who exists in a constant abiding, rest and dependence on God, fulfilling Jesus’ prayer that we be one in Him, as He is One in the Father. From God’s point of view, each of us is at some point on our individual healing continuum. From our point of view we are often going from one distinct healing to another. The more we see things from God’s perspective, the more we see our healing as a much broader process. Individual healings are visible evidence of the complete work God was doing below the surface even without our knowing about it. We also begin to see that God is always in the process of healing all of our wounds, including those we don’t know about.

Instantaneously There are times when we perceive a physical or soulical healing that God performs as spontaneous and complete, even miraculous. Through our dependence on God we learn to recognize His sovereignty in the choices He makes: we will not find a way to earn, predict or understand instantaneous healing. From God’s perspective, and our spiritual perspective, a complete healing that occurs in a single moment is no more valuable than one that occurs over time.

Unconditionally Sometimes the healing simply comes without God making us aware of it at all, even after the healing is complete. Or He may say something like, “I am healing (or ‘have healed’) you in this area…” and we experience that healing. So there are healings occurring in our lives that we don’t even know about, as well as those we perceive as a sovereign, independent move of healing on our behalf.

Conditionally There are also times when God wants us to know that our healing is part of our training process. For instance, if we were wounded by a certain person, and now therefore have a fear of certain situations, God may ask us to willingly, deliberately put ourselves in that situation so that He can heal us. He may say something like, “As you depend on me for strength, freedom and direction in this area, I am healing you in this area.” These areas may not even be related. For instance, He may ask us to walk into a situation where we would ordinarily be fearful, yet act out of our spiritual confidence (through asking and depending) even though we may not feel soulically confident. Though God may be using a need for healing as a method of teaching or training, it is not to build the independent strengths of our soul (our mind, will or emotions), but to reveal to us the soulical attributes and strengths that are spiritually enlivened and made available through our mind, will and emotions when we are in dependence on God.

Overcome Hindrances By Recognizing Your Uniqueness

You are in a unique situation! Others’ experiences, and even this book, may help, but the particular circumstances God has you in are between you and God, and all relate back to your personal relationship with Him. Though God may encourage and direct you through other sources, even the scriptures, if they don’t point back to dependence on God for your healing, they are a distraction from your healing process. If we have come to rely on a particular belief, procedure, person or prayer for healing of whatever sort, there will undoubtedly come a time when God will let it fail. The purpose for this book is not to set out a series of how-tos; that if you follow these steps God will heal you, but rather to encourage you to engage in the battle by making it clear that His ways, including His ways of healing, are knowable and practicable. Fortunately we know the outcome—freedom, wholeness, and rest—is assured before we even begin.

Overcome Hindrances By Recognizing The Battle Is His

And He’s already won it! Though we all probably know scriptures that relay the assurance that God is sovereign, knows what He’s doing, and is working on our behalf, each of us needs to hear it from Him for ourselves in order for it to be Truth to us. Until this happens, we often get bogged down trying to battle the hindrances ourselves. God loves us, and even though it may not be the best for us, He may seemingly respond to our soulical efforts and grant us a healing on our terms. But we can be assured the situation will come up again. Maybe not in the same area, but the original wound must be dealt with, and the only way it is truly healed is through dependence on God. God will not let us overcome these hindrances in our own strength, and it is here that we usually spend most of our time. As we instead learn to spend that time following His lead, we enter into a rest and lack of activity that will at first seem alien both to ourselves and to those around us, but which will eventually become a hallmark of His life flowing through us.

Overcome Hindrances By Recognizing That The Process Is Part Of The Training

As our focus is transferred from our need for healing to God’s perspective, we become less and less dependent on gauging our progress by whether or not our circumstances change. We learn that almost all of our pain doesn’t come from those around us, or our circumstances, but rather because we have an unhealed wound. We will then be able to let others be where God has them, and not be distracted by our circumstances. We will also gain faith and confidence in the faithfulness (persistence, reliance, expectation) of God, because it will be tested and proven through our personal experience of His unconditional love, acceptance and honor toward us.

Overcome Hindrances By Recognizing God Doesn’t Like To Be Taken For Granted

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.

Overcome Hindrances Through Rest

Our wounds and our need for healing most often become apparent under stress. If you don’t know what to do or how to respond, realize that’s okay! It is God’s job to provide us with whatever knowledge, understanding and training we may need in order to grow in dependence and get healed. Try to keep things simple! Knowing God is not very complicated, though it doesn’t come easy to our soul, which is used to having its own way. Learn to recognize that anxiety is a red flag showing us where we are trying to do God’s job. Also learn to distinguish the Rest of Dependence from the Inactivity of Avoidance. This ability is something that is caught, not taught. We must learn it by experience. But once we’ve experienced that rest, we will never be satisfied with either inactivity or productivity out of our own strength. As stress levels rise, we will learn to rely on the training and personal instruction He has provided, freeing us to be freely available to God as He flows through us.

Overcome Hindrances By Being Practical

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.

CAUTION

We are spending this entire book 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.

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 see next.

Adapted from Getting Healed by Dianne Thomas