Healed, Pain-Free, Whole.
Around these parts, we talk about heaven a lot.
We know we’re not home yet.
And we can’t wait for our new bodies—the ones that we can have someday because Jesus came in a body, lived in a body, suffered in a body, died in a body, and rose to life in a new body.
He lives in a resurrected body. Healed. Pain-free. Whole.
We suffer in these bodies. We hurt in these bodies. We break in these bodies.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33).
We are guaranteed trouble in this life. Because we’re not home yet. But when we know and follow Jesus, we get to have those resurrected bodies after we leave these temporary ones. We get to have bodies like the perfect one He’s been wrapped in since the very first Easter.
Healed. Pain-free. Whole.
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. (Philippians 3:20-21).
Tonight, Ava and I were having tea together. She stopped talking (an unusual occurrence for this particular five-year-old), and just gazed at me.
As I smiled (smiling through pain of this cruel CRPS that has been worsening daily for about two months in this recent flare-up, and smiling through the fear of the pending procedures and all the things they could mean for my little family if they go poorly) at her sweet face, she said:
“Mommy, Adelyn can’t get any owwies, right?”
[Adelyn is our little one who met Jesus face-to-face before we got a chance to hold her. Ava dreams of her often.]
“That’s right, Ava,” I assured her. “Adelyn can’t get any owwies!”
She went on, “Mommy, I’m so glad that Jesus died. Because I can’t wait for our new bodies. Mommy—you won’t have an owwie leg anymore! Mommy—we’ll be able to run and we’ll be able to race!”
“Yes, my Ava. We will run. And we will race.”
Oh, Ava. If you only knew how badly I needed that truth tonight. If you only knew how much I yearn to run and race with you. If you only knew how much I needed to be reminded that Jesus suffered so that one day, through Him, all of our suffering would end. Forever.
That we get to be healed, pain-free, and whole.
What about you—do you long for a life with no pain, no suffering, no brokenness?
It’s yours through a relationship with Jesus. He’s calling. He wants to hold you through this life and seal you for an eternity where you get to be forever healed, pain-free, and whole.
“By his wounds, we are healed,” (Isaiah 53:5).
Come along for the Joy Challenge. Available at ToChooseJoy.com/biblestudies.