Healer of Our Every Ill
Posted on Mar 29, 2022 by Jon Brudvig
Lately, I have struggled to make sense of the news of war, displaced refugees, and the sheer magnitude of the world’s brokenness. If we are not careful, despair and hopelessness can quickly envelop us like a quagmire from which we cannot free ourselves. When this happens, I find it helpful to give to God what is simply too difficult for me to bear. The same is true when a dreaded diagnosis or the failing health of a loved one disrupts life’s plans. In those moments, especially when hope seems lost, I cling to the promise, even if by the thinnest of threads, that God IS with us.
I also find comfort in the love and support of God’s faithful people who still gather in the face of our pain, grief, and loss. United with the communion of saints of every time and place, we draw strength from one another as we place our trust in a God who IS present in the most unlikely of circumstances — walking with refugees, dying in the streets of war-ravaged communities, and with all of those reaching out in Christ-like love to neighbors in need.
On Ash Wednesday we began our Lenten journeys with the stark reminder of our sin and mortality. Then, as we slowly journeyed through the valley of the shadow of death, we also heard promises of God’s extravagant and costly love for us. Even though we may turn away from God’s merciful care amid life’s difficulties, Jesus makes it clear that God’s love for us never wavers.
If you sense a need for healing in any aspect of your life — be it physical, emotional, social, or spiritual — please join us on Wednesday, April 6 at 7:00 p.m. as we conclude our Midweek Lenten worship series. Gathering once again at the Baugh-Marshall Chapel, we will sing, hear God’s Word of promise, and receive the healing gifts of prayer, the laying on of hands, and anointing with oil. These signs, often given first in baptism, remind us of the Holy Spirit’s power and proclaim the promise that we are marked with the cross of Christ, who IS health and salvation for the world.
In Christ’s Peace,
Pastor Jon