Thursday, July 28, 2011

"She Speaks" Part Two: Jehovah-Rapha

July 22, 2011


There is a prayer room at the "She Speaks" conference. I read about it online as some of the previous attendees expressed their excitement to make a return visit. It seems the organizers of the conference pray over each of the people who will be there, and then prayerfully attach each person’s name to one of the names of God. I understood it to be a place of peace, and of quiet, amidst a cacophony of ideas and words on the other side of the door.

It was afternoon of the first day before I had a chance to visit. It was a smaller, dimly lit room made cozy by a rug on the floor, two prayer rails, several floor pillows and a few soft benches along the sides. At the front of the room were three tables, each with four or five 8 ½ x 11 pieces of paper. On the middle of each paper was a name of God, and taped along the edges were each person’s name.

I found my name rather quickly, on the paper with Jehovah-Rapha in the middle. It was not a name I knew. It means "The Lord Who Heals," and below in parentheses (God has provided the final cure for spiritual, physical and emotional sickness in Jesus Christ. God can heal us.)

I have to be honest. It didn’t knock my socks off. I was hoping for something a bit more, I don’t know, encouraging. More empowering. Basically, I was hoping for something better. How about El Elyon, The God Most High? Or Adonai, My Great Lord?

Then I thought, Oh great! I’m going to get sick! God is telling me that I am going to get sick but it will be okay because He will heal me.

I can laugh at that silliness, now that I understand. On the last morning, a few of the Proverbs 31 leaders participated in an alternately funny/emotional drama about how we are never satisfied with the gifts the Lord gives us. Generally, we want the gift the other person got and not the one God picked out for us. That is pretty much how I felt in the prayer room, like I had gotten the mini can of Coke while someone else got the two-liter bottle.

But that was before the Lord reminded me of the parable of the Dead Girl (Matthew 9:18-26, Mark 5:21-42, Luke 8:40-56). The sick little girl’s father had gone out to find Jesus, to bring Him back to his house so Jesus could heal her. She died before they returned.

“Meanwhile, all the people were wailing and mourning for her. ‘Stop wailing,’ Jesus said. ‘She is not dead but asleep.’ They laughed at him, knowing that she was dead. But he took her by the hand and said, ‘My child, get up!’ Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.” Luke 8:52-55

Jehovah-Rapha, The Lord Who Heals.



Next - "She Speaks" Part Three: My GPS

2 comments:

  1. Wow, God's word is powerful! I love your transparency. It makes you a great writer!

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