The Gift of Healing

The divorce rate in the United States is 34%. That means that out of every 3 married couples, 1 will get divorced.

Let me drive that a little closer to home. Think of 3 married couples that you know: family, friends, other group members. The statistics say that 1 of those couples will get divorced.

Scary, isn't it?

Here's something even more alarming. Do you know what the rate is for divorced couples who reconcile their differences and get re-married? The statistics are hard to pin down, but one source I found puts it at under 10%. Less than 1 out of 10 divorces. And even that number seems quite high to me in my experience. It's incredibly rare.

This past weekend, I had the privilege of being at one of those rare occasions.

We met Jim a couple years ago @ Threads. He and his wife had just separated and he was trying to fit into a new lifespace. He definitely had a feeling of being lost, but he had this smile and joy that was infectious...like he knew something you didn't know.

We were close with Jim for a while, then he found his way into another Community Group and we just kept touch every now and then. A couple weeks ago he comes up to us after the Worship Gathering with a huge smile on his face, and hands us a card. We open it up and see it's a wedding invitation. He must have noticed the looks of both joy and confusion on our face when we read the names.

"Do you know who that is?" he asked us, "It's my ex-wife."

The wedding was an incredible experience. On the surface, it was nothing special. Just a simple ceremony, a small church, screaming kids - you know, the normal. But everyone there knew they were part of something special. Something rare. Something bigger than us. Something that just doesn't happen in our society.

There was so much emotion in that room. So much hope. Every time Michelle told someone about it afterwards she said, "You always hear about people crying at weddings, but I've never actually seen it happen so much. And I've never really been moved to do so before." Neither have I.

This was one of those God things that you hear about all the time, but you still don't really expect to see. The risen Christ is not just a uniter, He is a healer. We read stories about Him all the time where He heals someone, or turns water to wine, or raises someone from the dead. And we say we believe that, but when it comes to now, today, in our lives, we don't expect that to happen.

Sometimes we just need real-life reminders. We need to see that the risen Christ really does heal lives. We need to see it in our friends, and in ourselves.