Scripture Reading: Isaiah 49:8-13, Matthew 9:9-13, Luke 4:16-30, Luke 19:1-10, 1 John 4:14
I spent most of my twenties trying to understand what was wrong with my body. Every morning, I took my basal body temperature. I waited for the slight elevation in internal heat, followed doctor’s instructions, and took a litany of medications. But no matter what we tried, my husband and I couldn’t seem to get or stay pregnant. In the end, my obstetrician suggested I undergo a surgical procedure to determine whether I suffered from undiagnosed endometriosis, a common medical condition for women that can cause a host of uncomfortable symptoms, including infertility. My husband and I agreed that this was our best next step.
In the recovery room after surgery, I woke to see my doctor’s face hovering just above me. Anesthesia blurred my vision and softened the world’s sharp edges, but I could see Dr. Barrett’s glasses, her warm gentle smile.
“Do I have it?” I asked. My first question post-consciousness: am I broken? Do I have the incurable condition you feared?
She nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Yes. You do.”
I grabbed her hand and squeezed tight. “Thank you,” I said. “Thank you so much.”
Her eyebrows furrowed as she said, “In all my years, I’ve never had a patient thank me for bad news.”
What my doctor didn’t understand was that I needed more than a diagnosis. I needed the truth. After the surgery, I could finally rest knowing that something was wrong. I wasn’t crazy; it wasn’t my fault, and there was nothing I could do to change or cure my own condition.
My soul suffers in similar ways. As I move and breathe and live, I constantly battle with my own twisted motivations and expectations. I have an innate desire to do good and a near-complete inability to do it. I am sick, and not just in body, but in spirit.
Jesus came for people like me. People whose bodies and souls don’t work the way we know, deep down, they’re meant to work. Sometimes I am like Zacchaeus, who feeds his own greed only to find that wealth provides no comfort at all. And sometimes I’m like the Pharisees, prideful in my own self-righteousness. To all these parts of my broken heart, Jesus says, “come.”
He is the physician we need. The good doctor looks on us without an ounce of ire or disappointment and tells us the truth of our broken condition. But He doesn’t leave us in that diseased, broken place. Jesus seeks us out, tells us the truth, and gives with two scarred hands our eternal cure. His love is the balm for my wounds. It’s why He came—not just to point out that I am lost, but to gently, lovingly, bring me home again.
Written by Claire Gibson
Leave a Reply
5 thoughts on "Joy Through Salvation"
“For the Lord has comforted his people,
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.”
.
Thankful for our Comforter. Holy Spirit work in my heart today that I might do God’s will.
.
BRANDI – continuing to pray for your MIL and your family.
.
SARAH M – praying the Lord shows you His wisdom with the situation with your daughter’s release.
I didn’t get to comment yesterday, but I too love the word JOY. It was especially important to me through a very deep valley I walked through. I didn’t feel joy at the time, but I clung to the joy that only comes through knowing Jesus. That knowledge truly helped me to walk through that valley and come out on the other side.
I also love today’s readings and the knowledge that Jesus seeks out the sick. Usually we avoid sick people. We protect ourselves. “I don’t want to come close because I can’t get sick right now.” But Jesus comes close. He touches. And He heals!
Our son just moved in with us. He is down on his luck so to speak and is starting over. My heart hurts for him because he is ashamed, but we are grateful to have him with us and I just pray that this will be what finally brings him back to his faith. He was such a strong believer for his whole young life until college when he started to question his faith, and he has been running ever since. I know that God has been pursuing him, but I pray that now he can finally feel it and be obedient and come back.
Like Tina, these words grabbed my heart this morning: “Jesus seeks us out, tells us the truth, and gives with two scarred hands our eternal cure.”! Hallelujah what a Savior. The wonderful old hymn that runs through my mind includes the words – ‘Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my God should die for me?’!!
That should put a smile on our faces and a spring in our step this early Monday morning Ladies. Blessings to you!
Jesus came for people like me.. check.!
.
He is the physician we/I need.. check.!
.
Jesus seeks us out, tells us the truth, and gives with two scarred hands our eternal cure. His love is the balm for my wounds. It’s why He came—not just to point out that I am lost, but to gently, lovingly, bring me home again.
.
These words had my attention and heart! Such truth. The fallen by the wayside, and the business of life caused, forgotten truth, I needed to hear this morning!
.
I, Tina, am shouting for Joy. I rejoice this morning, for the Lord has comforted me, His person, this morning, and He will have compassion on His not so ‘healthy on the inside’ one.
.
Thank you Father God, Thank you.
.
BUT GOD..
.
Amen..
.
Happy Monday, wrapped in much love and hugs and continued prayers as requested and as felt to.
Hugs dear hearts.
Tina.❤️