Healing Starts from the Inside

2 Corinthians 4:16 “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

A number of years ago while in hospital recovering from a bowel surgery, my incision ripped open. The incision opening was about 4 inches long, 5 inches wide and 4 inches deep on top of that it was filled with infection. My stomach was a wide open mess. I was unable to keep any food down and I needed nutrition to fight the infection along with the antibiotics. The doctors used a vacuum type machine attached to my stomach to make sure that I healed from the inside to the outside. They knew that our bodies will naturally try to close the outside skin first, leaving a big mess underneath. The also fed me through an intravenous line that went right to my heart. Then was pumped through my body. If you were to look at me then it would appear that I was wasting away, that my life was ending. That the situation was hopeless. But a lot was going on inwardly that was going to cause my healing. Day by day my incision was being closed from the inside out, my body was being strengthen through the feeding to my heart and the antibiotics were removing the infection.

God works on us the same way. Our outward circumstances can be overwhelming. We may look at it and loose heart, thinking that there is no way to recover. That our troubles are just going to cause our lives to be wasted away. But when we move our focus to God instead of the outward circumstances we find hope, help and day by day we are renewed. As we look at things from His perspective and allow Him to minister to our heart, we begin to heal. That heart ministry, changes us, it gives us wisdom of how to change the circumstances, He strengthens us to make the changes, and He gives us hope that we will be victorious. Just as the intravenous food was through a line that went right to my heart, God feeds us right at our heart. When are hearts are being fed it pumps through our body and strengthens all of it. For a time our circumstances may not be changed at all. Yet we will be changing inside. People may question why despite the fact that we are still in the exact same place as far as our troubles go, we are not full of despair. Why we have not lost heart. The simple answer is because inwardly we are being renewed day by day to face and change the circumstances.

Allow God to feed your heart, to minister to you by renewing your strength day by day and to give you hope that your troubles will be gone. As we heal inwardly, or outside circumstances will change.