Healers in the Hands of God

Yesterday, I posted something Jami wrote last week: "Nobody can fix me quite as well as he who created me." To build on that thought, I want to post an excerpt from something I wrote last Fall. Here is it:

It is a basic medical truism that you cannot be cured of most illnesses unless you receive treatment for it – usually by going to someone who can heal you. In order to be healed, you need to expose the problem that is troubling you to someone who can recognize it and offer assistance that will alleviate your suffering and cure the issue.

In spiritual terms, we accept God, the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, as the ultimate healers, but I have come to believe that relatively few members understand fully the promises we make when we agree to take His name upon us. We often translate this as "being Christians," but "Christ" was only one of his titles - only one of the names by which He is known. It is a title, not necessarily a communicable name. There is not room here to discuss the full implications of this promise, but there is one name that we can assume - no matter our circumstances or limitations. It is Healer.

We promise to assume his role of Healer specifically when we promise to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those who stand in need of comfort. Just like any doctor, however, we simply cannot do this unless we are "open" to the sick and afflicted (either to their visits or through our own house calls) - unless we are aware of someone else’s pain and suffering – unless we know why they mourn and what comfort they need - unless we are able to see their warts. We might “fellowship” with each other on Sunday, but if we only see each other at our Sunday best - disabilities covered by white shirts and ties and warts carefully hidden beneath well-placed mascara - we completely miss the opportunity for the depth of full fellowship that allows us to act in the place of Jesus and heal in His stead.

I am struck by how Jesus healed. He didn't say, "Lock yourselves in your rooms and ask to be healed." Rather, He said, "Come unto me." Healing was not an impersonal event; it was full of touching and blessing and communicating and real physicality.

Think about it: To whom do you feel closest in life - and in your ward or branch? Is it because you know their joys and their pain - and they know yours? Is it because you have seen their warts, and they have seen yours? Perhaps, is it because you share a common type of wart - because you have shed a tear together or held each other as life seemed to shake around you? Is it because you have held their hand, embraced them and touched their lives in real and practical and powerful ways?

Truly, nobody can fix me quite as well as he who created me, but I can't help but believe that He can fix His children more fully if we are willing to be a medicinal or surgical tool in His hands.