Behold

2 Kings 20: 5

Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.”

The sweet Lord brought this verse to my attention last year. It is the one I am currently standing on. I have made a screensaver out of it and have posted it at my desk so that I am reminded of His promise. This is the promise I needed, “I will heal you.” God said it. I didn’t make Him. I couldn’t. So, this promise wasn’t forced out of Him. He offered and that is important to me.

Of course, this is true of every one of these healing verses. God is love. He pours His love out upon us. That pure, pristine, beautiful love that is so reminiscent of a beautiful mountain spring has healing in it. It must because in Him is life. We can immerse ourselves in this fountain of health, allowing it to wash over us. Right this moment I can see myself lying on my back in a mountain stream. The water is cool, and I feel it massaging my body as it rushes by. As I open my eyes, I see a canopy of green above me as God’s beautiful trees reach out their branches to make a shade covering for me. Yet, streams of light filter through as if God’s smile cannot be withheld from me. I open my mouth and let some water in and drink it down hungrily. It refreshes and restores. I can feel the coolness going down my throat and through my chest. It feels like it spreads through all my veins taking that fresh revitalization to every cell of my body.

What do you feel when you hear God say, “Behold, I will heal you?” What emotion is foremost? Do you believe Him? Sometimes it is hard to believe Him. Sure, our minds agree and buy in, but in our spirts there dwells, still, the trembling fear and doubt. You want to reach down inside yourself and make your heart believe what your mind accepts but it isn’t that easy. How do you quell the fear that threatens to rip all your faith from you? You must take up your weapons. What are they? Your Bible, of course. Paul called it preparation in the gospel of peace. Peace, huh? Interesting. There was something about that in yesterday’s Word of the Day. I call it, putting on your Gospel Boots. Paul also said we have the weapons of salvation, faith, truth, righteousness and the Word is the sword. Let me add three more tools for your toolbelt.

First, conversation with the Lord. It cannot be beaten. It is so, so, very important that we all learn to have serious, sincere conversations with our Father. Second, visualization. You can do much with a visual bearing and it will aid you greatly. See yourself sitting with Jesus or with the Father. See yourself enjoying your healing. Watch yourself run, jump or even just stand up without creaking. Third, mediation. Ohhhh, don’t forget this one. My favorite meditations are ruminating on verses. I just think about each word and the situation in which they arose. What if God had used a different word? Why didn’t He? What did He want me to get out of this verse? What was going on in the author’s life? Answers come much more easily when you ask the right questions, so ask yourself some questions. How does this verse make you feel? Do others make more sense? Which other verse does this one remind you of? Just slow down and think about the verse, letting the fullness of its meaning sink in. Let today’s verse sink in. You’ve got a promise. What will you do with it?