Healing vs. Cure

This past Saturday, Ryan and I participated in a dialogue-interview with Katherine and Jay Wolf, creators of Hope Heals.

Hope Heals is a non-profit ministry serving families impacted by disabilities. We have been able to attend two of their virtual conferences that offer hope and community to families like ours. But, this past weekend, we were blessed to share our story and answer questions that have been buried deep in my heart and soul that I want to share with you.

One of the questions we were given…

“We love to share the crucial and often misunderstood nuance between being cured and being healed, and how new life is possible even if a cure never comes. To you, what does healing—versus being cured—look like and how does it happen?”

Woof! Can’t we ease into the convo a little bit?! ;) But honestly, I was beyond grateful for the question because cure vs. healing had been rambling around in my mind for the past two years and needed an outlet.

What I shared…

How we define illness, disabilities, and sickness will determine what you and I believe about healing.

I believe that we have fallen victim to the belief that Jesus’ physical healings are meant to bring the body back to “normal.” But, do we really believe this is what Jesus’ work accomplishes?

I want to say, no. Not completely. Jesus’ healing is all about relationships.

Jesus’ healing is about wholeness to oneself, others, and Christ.

In John 4 we meet a woman at the well. She is a Samaritan woman who has had five husbands and is currently with a man who is not her husband. There is a conversation between her and Jesus. Jesus asks her for water from the well. She responds by reminding him she is a woman and of her status in society. Jesus shares that He alone can offer her the Living Water. He is revealing to her that she would never be thirsty again. She goes on to leave the well and starts telling the town about the Savior of the World, Jesus. She openly admits that, “He told me everything I had ever done.” Not only does she continue to speak about Jesus, but many others start to follow Him because of her story.

I’ve always gravitated to this story. I usually tell this story when presenting the gospel to others. Mostly because I love that He speaks to the woman, has a dialogue, offers her to never search or be thirsty again, and lays her entire story out for her. He truly sees her, serves her, and loves her.

But, I have never read this story as “Jesus performing miracles” story until recently. That is because I too have fallen victim to believe that Jesus’ miracles are about physical healing, when in reality they are about wholeness and oneness to ourselves, Jesus, and others.

The Samaritan woman in John 4, hearing her story, accepting her story, and leading others to Christ is JUST as much of a “miracle story” as healing the blind man or healing the bleeding woman.

You see, the woman in John 4 experiences true healing. She experiences healing in her story. Jesus offers her truth.

And that is exactly the difference between being cured vs healing.

Being cured is searching for an answer, that most likely you can find. But healing can only be found in Jesus and the truth that He offers.

Friends, let’s be people who seek healing. Let’s not be about quick fixes, answers, or cures.

Let’s seek out the truth of who Jesus is.

He is the healer of our stories.

He is the healer of our relationships to others.

And he is the healer that brings us to himself.