Growing up, I never really thought about healing. No one in our house was chronically ill. Every now and then there would be a cold or something similar, but nothing serious. If it was a bit bigger and more serious than a cold, we would go to the doctor to get the illness resolved.
I never realised that healing comes from God. And that is the reason why Jesus died on the cross for us. I know it sounds stupid to say it like this, but that is how it was for me. Probably also the exposure I had to religion that resulted in me thinking of it in this manner. Perhaps also because I never read the bible on that manner, if that makes sense. I always thought Jesus died so that we can go to heaven.
There is more to His death on the cross than only going to heaven. Of course I do not imply that going to heaven is not the best thing ever. Of course it is first prize! But there is so much more included for us in His death on the cross. Again, when I chose the verses for 2023, I could not imagine in my wildest dreams how relevant November 2023’s scripture would be on my life. I know, I sound like a record stuck in one place when I explain why November’s entry on the scripture is late. I will not elaborate on this topic anymore. At least I am writing it even if it is more than two months late….
Back to the scripture. I just love the English version. For by His stripes we are healed. Wow. Each and every lashing from the whips, was for us. For every person on earth. Not just for me. Also not only for a select few people. I cannot help but wonder, and it sounds strange to say it like this, but I am going to say it, then we will see how it works out. I wonder, when Jesus was on the cross, and every time he got a lash to His body, did He talk to me in His thoughts? Saying, Elsie, this one is for you. For the diagnoses of September 2023. For everything you have to go through in this entire process.
Would He, with a next and a next lashing, think about me and everything I had been through thus far in my life? This one is for your kidney pipe infection at the age of 5, tonsils, miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, cracked vertebrae from the car accident, neck, arm or hand that is sore from sleeping in the wrong manner….I can go on with my list. If He said it about me more than 2,000 years ago, then He said it about every single person on earth. Wow. This is huge. He has, over all the decades, taken each and every person’s illness and ailment on Him that day on the cross and with each lashing. That is huge. Have you ever thought of it like that?
Just the other day, we were travelling to Milpark hospital for the umpteenth time. The route we take goes past a burial site. My husband, Heinrich, said that he cannot believe that there is still place for people to be buried. We see what looks like freshly dug graves. I answer him with a question, saying that I wonder how many people have ever walked on this earth. From the beginning of time up to now. I leave the question unanswered, because I don’t think anyone knows and even if there is a number, I most certainly will not be able to pronounce it, because there will be so many thousands, hundreds, millions and billions in that number! I will not even know where to start with that pronunciation. If I look at it like this, then my brain cannot fathom God’s greatness. It cannot even begin to grasp how much Jesus did for us.
For a few years now, when I pray, I rebuke the illness to go away in the Name of Jesus. For by His stripes, we are healed. Jesus already did the healing on the cross. The illness cannot do anything but go away. When I look at the results of the sonar that we did in November and that the tumour had already shrunk by 6 mm, then I get reassurance that God has got this. Even if the sonar measurements taken after this one is different – which I assume is normal, because the thing is busy dying and changing shape in the process. The healing is not in the medicine or the doctors. Those are the instruments that are there for us to receive healing. Instant healing from God is most certainly available. Deep down inside of me, I do know that there is a greater purpose for this. What it is, I cannot say.
Only time will tell. I know when I am going to look back on this time, when everything is over, I will only stand in absolute awe about God’s hand in everything. I know I am healed. God has already done this. I am just going through the process, because this is where God wants to use me. I am trusting that I am doing what God wants me to do during this process. I still cry a lot about everything. I am only human. With emotions and made in the image of God. We also laugh a lot. Try to function as normal as possible. But the most of it all is prayer. I pray a lot, rebuking the tumour and the swollen lymph nodes in the Name of Jesus. For by His stripes, we are healed...
