Three months prior I witnessed God’s goodness and deliverance of my fourth son. Yet months of sleepless nights, challenging children, and a traveling husband had left me weary. My time in the Living Water decreased when the demands of life increased.

It only took three days for the Israelites to forget about God’s goodness and deliverance.  Three days prior He delivered them from slavery and parted the Red Sea…

“Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” Exodus 14:31

But those three days were long. Walking in the wilderness. Finding no water. They were tired. They needed rest. More than anything they needed drinkable water.

Hidden Brokenness

When the Israelites finally found water. I imagine it looked normal. They didn’t realize it was “broken”. Not until someone bent over and took the first sip, discovering the bitter water (the name of the area was called “Marah” which means “bitter”, so perhaps the bitterness was obvious).

Having just witnessed the LORD perform an enormous miracle with water, shouldn’t they have believed the same God could restore this water? Heal it. Make it drinkable.

My injury was hidden. For two weeks I performed normal “mom of four young boys” activities. In addition, I started an intense weight-lifting program, ran on the treadmill, and stood for hours at my husband’s 20-year high school reunion. I was unaware of my need for healing until the evening I took off my sneakers and couldn’t stand up.

As I sat on the x-ray table, it struck me how normal my foot looked. No obvious injury. Only high-tech machinery could determine I had a stress fracture. The only way to heal a fracture was to stay off my foot for 2-3 weeks. Healing came from rest.

Healing despite grumbling

When I learned the prescribed remedy (2-3 weeks of rest), I cried. I just had a baby. I have 3 young boys. We live in a house with a second-story. How could I stay off my foot? How could I provide a healing environment? I grumbled. Big time.

Instead of remembering God’s power and provision just three days prior, the Israelites grumbled to Moses. But Moses knew where to turn. He cried out to the LORD and the LORD provided a remedy, a tree to throw in and purify the water.  The LORD said,

“If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.” (Exodus 15:26)

Soul Healing

An x-ray machine hadn’t diagnosed my fractured spirit. It was hidden under duties. In Hebrew, “rapha” means “to restore, to heal, to make healthful.” He “restored my soul” (Psalm 23:3).

The God who sees (El Roi) was kind to me. My mother-in-law, who was in town for mothers’ day, volunteered to stay and help. She fed us three meals a day (including breakfast in bed). She washed, folded and put-away laundry. She put boys to bed. She served while I healed.

While I rested my foot, I rested my soul. I sat with my boys and read books. I laughed instead of instructed. The Lord as healer, Jehovah Rapha, not only healed my hidden, fractured physical need; He provided rest for a weary soul.

“He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

Scripture reveals Jehovah Rapha heals physical needs (2 Kings 20:1, 4-5), spiritual needs (Isaiah 53:5), and emotional needs (Psalm 147:3).  A tree “healed” the bitter waters for the Israelites. Jesus’ death on a wooden cross, delivered us from bitter souls and sin (1 Peter 2:24-25).

Are you wounded? Is it hidden to the normal eye? Do you desperately need a Physician? Have you asked Him to heal you?

Pray:

“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.” Jeremiah 17:14

 *If you are looking for a great book or study on the names of God, check out “LORD, I Want to Know You” by Kay Arthur.