Jehovah-Rophe / Ropheka means The Lord who Heals or The Lord Our Healer, and it implies spiritual, emotional and physical healing. Jer. 30:17 ‘For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,’ declares the LORD.
While we are to do what we can to maintain our bodily health (avoid known carcinogens and addictive foods), exercise, rehydrate and rest, I found the physical issues heal faster if I've first addressed the spiritual and emotional issues before the Lord. Bitterness and guilt are two of the biggest lies that need healing and recovery and two that cause or exacerbate many of the diseases. Just like the basic "diet" truth is still that we must expend more calories than we take in, the spiritual 'diet' truth also remains the same - repent and let God forgive, heal, cleanse and renew. I believe I've many times mistaken that I needed to forgive myself, or forgive others, when what I needed to do was to claim and believe that God had forgiven me or that He had forgiven others. Who am I to think that I have some power to 'finish' forgiving if God says He has done that and healed me of my wounds. Why am I so stupid as to pick at the scabs of guilt and see if there is any residue remaining with which I can accost myself? That action is evidence of not believing God's word and work. If God forgave and healed, nothing more is needed. Nothing more can be done. I may need to learn how to live with some remaining circumstances (to keep on leaving them with the ultimate healer instead of pulling them back to tinker with them), but I need to trust Jehovah-Rophe to heal all, and to pass on the blessing, from Isaiah 61:1 to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners. What a blessing to be called to share what God has done!
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