The Painted GospelsSample

Divine Healing
by Joni Earckson-Tada 

“Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. She said to herself, ‘If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.’ Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed at that moment” (Matthew 9:20-22).

There’s hardly a time I read this passage that I don’t feel a clutch in my throat. Having lived as a quadriplegic in a wheelchair for 50 years, I know what it’s like to long for hands that work and feet that walk. Countless times in prayer, I have gotten ‘on hands and knees’ to touch the hem of Christ’s garment in hopes of being healed. But the Lord in his divine wisdom, has not granted physical healing. Yet thanks to God’s grace, I have learned to embrace this answer from God; it has led to a glad and relaxed contentment in his will for my life.

How is that possible? I enjoy a solid satisfaction with God’s deeper healing. Because the same Jesus who healed blind eyes and restored withered hands inasmuch said, “If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out; if your hand leads you astray, cut it off” (Matthew 5:29-30). When it comes to healing, Jesus thinks that healing us of sin is a greater priority. I have a long way to go before sin is entirely uprooted from my heart, and I would much rather be healed of selfishness than spinal cord injury. Really.

Paralysis, however, does not have the final word. One day, “the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped… and the lame shall leap like deer” (Isaiah 35:6). One day, I will jump out of this wheelchair, dance, kick, and do aerobics. Never should we be quite settled with disease and disability. It’s temporary.

This was driven home to me not long ago when I visited the art studio of Ron DiCianni. I was honored when he invited me, a fellow artist, to have the pick of any of his framed prints. I slowly wheeled by an array of glorious paintings, all depicting scenes from God’s Word. When I saw this one, Divine Healing, my eyes filled with tears. But they were tears of joy – soon and very soon God’s day of healing for us all will come. What a glorious day that will be when we finally touch the hem of Christ’s garment, welcome his healing inside and out, and sing his praises forevermore!