Back to God for Healing

Chapter 1

Return Unto Me and Be Healed

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10

Marriage is the Sacred Trust That Must Be Guarded at All Cost

God’s heart aches at the plight that gnaws at Christian marriages in the twenty first century. His desire is to help you and me live fulfilled lives every day. I believe, today, with deep compassion and with the same outstretched arms, Christ beckons to all who are hurting saying, “Return unto me and be healed.”

God cares about the state of your family. Your family is God’s prime business. It is God’s priority. You see, God is a stake holder. The Lord Jesus Christ went about cities and villages, teaching in synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people in Matthew 9:35-36. But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.

Christ wept over the beloved city, Jerusalem, saying, “… how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. (Matthew 23:37-38) The family is at the apex of God’s plan for your life and the world. Your family is not just about you as you may think. The family is a sacred trust given to us by our mighty God. It must be guarded at all cost.

As I wrestled with the heavy task of writing a book on healing for the family, I was going through extreme times of spiritual hunger and unrest. I mean a hunger that could not be satisfied. The spiritual hunger made me relate to my teenage son’s physical hunger. “Mom, I am starving.” “Son, you just ate… ten minutes ago.” “Mom, what can I eat?” “Son, I just cleared the table… I am not done cleaning the dishes yet.” Remember those days? The most hilarious was when I invited visiting friends for dessert one Saturday afternoon. I arose from the living room, set the dining table ready for the wonderful chocolate éclair I had prepared the previous night. I went to the refrigerator that was inconspicuously placed behind two double doors to get the weighty 9”x7”Pyrex casserole dish. I took it with both hands. “uh-mmm…” I lifted it. “That didn’t feel right.”I thought to myself. “There is no way it can be empty.” I mean, that was the last thing I worked on before going to bed. My husband and I had been working together all day long and I was certain he did not eat it. Then it flashed right through my mind like a snap shot of a commercial on a movie screen. The teenager! Yes, I saw him by the kitchen counters as we talked with our company. I did not need to make any more inquiries. I knew where all the éclair was and just in case you still don’t believe it, there was still enough room for the strawberry dessert I quickly served to the waiting guests. (I called it “the grace dessert.” I had planned on taking it to my ninety four year old friend later that afternoon.)

Enough of that story! At least for the moment! My hunger was for the Word of God and for prayer. I mean, every single free minute was utilized to the fullest. I was eating and digesting God’s Word like a hungry dog that had neither tasted food nor water for months. In practically forty days, between January fifth and February fifteenth, I had gone through the entire Bible—both the Old and the New Testament. I can almost hear some of you shouting, “That sounds insane.” “How did you do it?”I know! I feel and think the same too. I just followed the hunger of my heart night and day. Like my teenage son who fills his digestive system with all kinds of nutrients during his eating sprees (To calm your inquiring mind, he mainly does this while going through a growth spurt—needless to say, the growth spurts are many), my spiritual gastrointestinal tract was also filled with all kinds of nourishment. Some nutrients came from likable easy to eat foods like ice-cream, fruits, steak and potatoes. On the other hand, some other valuable nutrients came from unlikable foods like broccoli, frog legs, and macaroni and cheese just to name a few.

Within the one month or so that I went through the Old Testament, I marveled at how many times God warned His people, Israel, not to be like other nations. I began to find answers as to how the family moved from being the first institution to be formed by God through an eternal plan to being undesirable and detestable today by the elect of God. My heart began to understand how we got into the mess in which we are. How could something so precious become so burdensome? How can something meant to give man utter satisfaction cause so much pain and agony? Marriage! Are you kidding me? Family! What family? The thought of family or marriage carries with it all kinds of thoughts and emotions. To some blessed few, it is paradise on earth. To many, it would rather be a wound to be left uncovered. To the majority, it is a necessary evil that will never work.