Henri Nouwen | Life and Faith

Healing

Did you know that God has given you the power to bring healing into the lives of others?

We all experience times of joy and sorrow, triumph and loss. We all experience times of great strength and vitality, and times when we’re not sure that we have “enough” to last another day. And, as we move through life, we write a story.

A man who has just lost his wife after a long battle with cancer can speak to other men, who are going through the same thing, in ways that nobody else really can. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are successfully built upon the premise that people who have walked on a particular path in life can help others on the same path in ways that other people can’t. As we continue to live our lives and discover the bridges that exist between our daily lives and our “lives of faith,” we discover what it means to be human and find the key to connecting with others in life-giving ways.

“Your Power to Heal” is a message that’s based upon the story of the healing of Simon’s mother-in-law and upon insights that we can glean from the writings of Henri Nouwen.

Simon’s mother-in-law was struck down by a debilitating fever; and, in the midst of her struggle, she learned what it feels like to be lift-up by the hand of Jesus. She became what Henri Nouwen would call a “wounded healer” when Jesus lifted her up and, immediately, she rose from her bed and began to serve other people.

How can the story of your life help others to experience Christ’s presence in their own times of joy and struggles? How can the story of your life help other people to see Jesus in the midst of the story that they’re writing, too?

The story of your life – your journey through times of joy and sorrow, triumph and loss – is something that God can use to stir-up the gift of faith in other people. The story of your life and the story of your faith-journey has the power to bring healing to others – and, as you share that story, others can be lifted-up by the same Christ who has lifted you.

healing

“One of the things that I’ve learned, in my own journey of faith, is that I need to remain connected to the Church when life’s good and when it isn’t. I will surely have times in my life when I speak God’s Word to other people, but I’ll also have times when I need other people to speak God’s Word to me.” ~ Pastor Wayne

Christians sometimes draw an unhelpful distinction between “darkness” and “light.” We believe and proclaim that “Jesus Christ is the Light of the World.” (John 8:12) It’s always going to be easy for us to sense God’s presence when we’re feeling particularly blessed and strong. But, we’ve all had times when we struggled because God seemed to be far away and distant during a difficult time – haven’t we? We’ve been taught to draw an unhelpful line between “darkness” and “light”; and, when we do that, what we say to ourselves, even as people of faith, can close our eyes to God’s presence and our minds to how God’s actually moving when life isn’t what we want it to be.

Did you know that Jesus began His earthly ministry in “darkness”? The Bible, in fact, is filled with many stories where God was quite active in the midst of “darkness.” What if we grasped that truth and lived into it more intentionally? How could our times of struggle be transformed if we more clearly understood that God’s not afraid to enter into “darkness” – and that God, in fact, does incredible things when all seems lost?

In this week’s message, “Healed Healers”, we’re challenged to stop believing that the darkest moments in our lives are times when God’s deserted us. We’re also challenged to see that the lessons that we learn during our darkest times in life are lessons that we can use to encourage and support other people. Our deepest wounds, as Henri Nouwen once wrote in The Wounded Healer, can be used as “tools” that bring healing into the lives of other people. Perhaps, as Christ comes into the midst of our “darkness,” He will transform us into “Healed Healers” who have the power to speak God’s Word to those who need to hear it the most?

Blessings!