Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Rev. 22:1-2
Merciful Jesus, I begin today with one clear image and many pronounced longings. The image is John’s vision of the New Jerusalem—our future home of perfect health. Because of the tree of Calvary, the tree of life will stand tall in the New Jerusalem—bearing the fruit of your great sacrifice and waving its healing leaves forever. Oh, how I look forward to living, playing and praising in the shade of that tree—where every disease, disintegration, and distress will be gone forever.
My longings are connected to people I love and stories I’m aware of—people in need of all kinds of healing. I pray for marriages of friends to be restored; for the minds of those suffering with mental illness to be made right; for church families divided over very non-eternal things.
For the fabric of our racially and economically torn community to be transformed; for the emotions of the demonized and disoriented to be set free; for friends with stories of abuse, cancer, and heart disease to be completely whole; grace and hope for families in the whirlwind of addictive care; indeed, for the nations to be healed—set free from all wars, even rumors of war.
Even as I pray with hope and assurance of these things to come, Jesus, I own the fact that I don’t understand the “already and not yet” of your healing ministry. Why, how, and when you choose to bring a foretaste of perfect health into the present state of our brokenness is up to you. I get that. You are the King who does all things well. You don’t need our permission to do anything. I admit the obvious, however, sometimes I wish I could simply pray our glorious future into so many right-now hard stories. But if you get more glory by giving sufficient grace instead of what I really want, I will seek to trust your wisdom and timing.
But, Lord Jesus, keep me free two extremes, with respect to praying for healing: keep me free from faith formulas that treat healing like an on-demand right; and keep me free from a theology that has zero expectation of your kingdom breaking in with power and healing.
As we get closer and closer to celebrating Easter, my heart piques with intense longing for more of your resurrection power to be evident in this day. More so than ever, I crave our eternity of perfect health and wholeness. Maranatha! Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly. So very Amen I pray, in your holy and healing name.
