I am not the solution

When a problem occurs we tend to think we must find a solution. Suddenly we are burdened and we will do anything to get rid of it.

When my health failed and I was told I had an incurable disease, I began to ask myself what had happened to cause this. And honestly over time I have thought of many possible reasons. Perhaps in knowing the cause I would be able to fix it.

I thought a major reason could have been my inadequate diet… Was what I was eating, or not eating, having a detrimental effect on my health? Was I not looking after my body well? Or was it some stress I had been under that had run me down? Or was I harbouring unforgiveness in my heart toward anyone? Perhaps it was the air I breathed in Hong Kong … or was the problem my genes, or even the sins of past generations?!! It certainly caused me to review my life.

I'm sure I was not alone in the quest to answer 'Why?' It seemed a most natural question. However, if I had dwelt on these things long enough that would have been a severe burden indeed to carry. And I have discovered that looking back and examining the past, dwelling on self… can have no good outcome.

Even if I was responsible in some way, it does not have to affect my future. God has forgiven me! As believers, we are new creations in Christ, cut off from our past sinful nature, and now inheritors of all the wonderful promises of God. If something in our past needs attention we can trust the Holy Spirit to show us. We don't have to drag all the past up.

In the same way, to embark on a campaign to 'fix the problem', to get myself healed, can be very stressful, exhausting and diverting! Not to mention expensive! Early on, this is what I thought I needed to do. The responsibility was heavy. It would have been easy to panic! You may well have agreed with me:

"Surely we need solutions to get us back to health?" But this didn't feel like the easy yoke and light burden that Jesus talked about in Matthew 11:28-30. And now I know that it's not.

We see in the Bible that God is our Creator and Healer and there are no incurable diseases with him! He forgives ALL our sins and heals ALL our diseases (Psalm 103:3). I believe God wants us not only to be healed but to live in divine health! He loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die in our place. He took away our sin and all that that encompassed, including sickness, and by rising again provided us with new life and health and peace, in union with him.

The way we receive anything from God is totally different from how we seek to solve our own problems. It is not dependent on our ability to fix anything, it is not about our goodness, or our efforts at all. In fact, it is not about us! It is all about him!

We receive healing by looking only to Jesus, not to ourselves or our problems, and believing all that he has done for us. The more we believe God's word and his love for us, that he is a good, good Father, the easier it is for us to receive. There is no good thing that he withholds from us, and healing is good! (Psalm 84:11.)

So I have resolved (not solved)… to enjoy his goodness and only look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith. I don't have the solution, but he does. And like everything in the Kingdom, it is a free gift that we can willingly receive.