Healing From the Inside Out

Ephesians 3:16-19
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Sometimes we have to work a little to come up with a Scripture reference and/or an illustration for our blog entry. Sometimes they just fall into our laps. Today it was the latter. The analogy was there. It just took a little research, and we found the verse above that fits exactly.

As you know, Tammy has been battling sores in her mouth and her throat for about 10 days. They are very painful, and the mucus that they produce has made it difficult for her to swallow, and sometimes even breathe. But other than swollen cheeks, it was hard to notice without looking inside her mouth.

But there was one exception. A blister formed on her bottom lip that was about an inch wide. When it broke, it scabbed over, a nasty black scab. Tammy was very conscious of it, mostly because it was tender. It also was unsightly. She's still beautiful, even with the scab, but still it bothered her. The temptation was to yank it off. But that would not have been a good idea, because the skin underneath was not ready and another scab would have formed.

When I arrived at the hospital this afternoon, the scab had loosened. It still was hanging on, but it was clear that it was getting closer to falling off. Our friend, Beth, who was Tammy's nurse yesterday and today, kept reminding her to let it fall off. She had to heal "from the inside out." When the skin underneath was ready, it would push it off.

About a half-hour ago, it fell off. It's amazing how much better Tammy feels without that hard scab hanging on her lip. Her lip hurts less. She's not worried about it any more. It's a sign of healing, of cleansing. I'm sure you get where I'm going with this.

We can work hard to make changes in our lives, but it's not until the "skin underneath," or the part of us that makes us who we are, is ready that we have healing. God heals us by changing our "inner being." When the inside is healed, He can inhabit our souls and we "may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Pretty cool, huh?