Devotion for Today "Not Cured, But Healed" Ephesians 4:30-32

Devotion for Today “Not Cured, But Healed” Ephesians 4:30-32

In the fall of 2001, we invited Dr. Tony Campolo to speak at our evangelism conference in Stuttgart, Germany. It was a very difficult time for our world. We were still reeling from the aftermath of September 11. I was personally going through a very difficult time myself. I felt let down and betrayed by those whom I considered to be very good friends. I was feeling very bitter. If I wasn’t, I was teetering fairly close to the edge. I don’t think I had ever felt such anger inside of me. Even though I was planning the conference, I almost did not attend because I felt so miserable. Dr. Campolo needed someone to take him to our conference, so I picked him up at the airport in Frankfurt. I was late picking him up at the airport because of a traffic “stau” that had the Autobahn snarled for almost an hour. Tony was very gracious with my inability to pick him up on time, made a joke, and then followed me to the car.

The drive was one the most unforgettable and encouraging experiences of my life. He had all this knowledge and ability, yet he allowed me the opportunity to express the hurt I was feeling without offering any advice. We had lunch together in Heidelberg before proceeding to Stuttgart, where I was able to “pick his brain” so to speak. By the time we arrived three hours later, I felt like I had already been to the conference.

Tony told me this story which he also repeated at the conference: “I was in a church in Oregon not too long ago, and I prayed for a man who had cancer. In the middle of the week, I got a telephone call from his wife. She said, "You prayed for my husband. He had cancer."
I said, "Had?" Whoa, I thought, it's happened.
She said, "He died." I felt terrible.
She continued, "Don't feel bad. When he came into that church last Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to be dead in a short period of time, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn't take away his sickness and heal him. He would lie in bed and curse God. The more his anger towards God grew, the more miserable he was to everybody around him. It was an awful thing to be in his presence. After you prayed for him, a peace had come over him and a joy had come into him. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We've sung. We've laughed. We've read Scripture. We prayed. Oh, they've been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing."
And then she said something incredibly profound. She said, "He wasn't cured, but he was healed."
One of the most terrible diseases one can experience is not cancer. It is bitterness. Bitterness is anger that is allowed to fester until it becomes a gangrene of the spirit. I wrote yesterday of resisting the Spirit, today I would have us examine grieving the Spirit. One may think that grieving the Spirit means falling into “grievous sins.” If that is the case, bitterness is one of them according to what Paul said in Ephesians 4:30-32:
“And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”
Bitterness not only grieves the Spirit, but it will literally tear out ones’ heart. But forgiveness
not only heals us, but releases us from the chains of despair. We may not be cured in the way of preventing hurtful things to happen to us again, but we will be healed in our spirit when they do. Allow Christ to release you from that bitterness and anger today. Have a blessed day!

 

Rev. Jeffery C. Russell
Salem Baptist Church
Elizabeth City, NC
jefferyrussell@earthlink.net

jcrussell@liberty.edu

 

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