When one part of the Body hurts….Restore it gently

Every part of the body is needed.

I woke up in the early morning hours with my right hand completely numb.  I’m talking, I couldn’t feel my hand, you guys!  It was scary.  I started to pray, “Lord, let the blood go back into my hand and my fingers.”  I began to consider all of the reasons that I need my right hand.  I need it to write.  I need it to cook, clean, drive, and touch the faces of my loved ones.  And I need to use it to touch people who need to be touched.  I need it to reach out, laying on hands in prayer.  I lifted my hand above my heart and continued to pray that the blood would flow.  Slowly, I felt the jolting tingling movement start to creep up into all of the tiny nerves and vessels in my hand and fingers.

What if I lost my hand?  What if I could not use it anymore?  Oh, I would grieve.  I would not be okay without it.

So now I see my hand as a gift.  It is something God gave me to use, and I should not ever take it for granted.  I should thank Him for it.  I need it. He knows I do.  He gave it to me for many purposes, and I should be regularly considering if I am using every part of my body to glorify Him.

Recently, we have had members of our Body of Christ go numb.  They felt dead.  They were isolated and cut off from blood supply.  But it is time to restore.  It’s time to pray the life back into them.  Just like I don’t want to live without my right hand, the Body of Christ does not want to operate without its members.  If we lost our right hand man, we need to pray for his healing, his feeling, his restoration, his obedience to the Head, even Christ.  We need to pray that the blood would flow back into those parts that went numb.  We need to lift up those parts and ask God for new life, healing, His touch, a miracle.  Do we believe that God makes all things beautiful in His time?

Ro 12:4-5  Just as each one of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

We cannot lose a member of our body and not suffer.  Loss is painful.  But as long as the member is not dead, there is hope.  Our God is a God of redemption, of sanctification, of bringing beauty from ashes.

When a part of the Body hurts because of sin, there are 7 specific things we can do to help it to revive.

1.  Focus on God who is Truth, Light and Life.  “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

2.  Speak truth in love:  God disciplines those he loves.  “but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.  Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it..”  Hebrews 12:10-11

3.  Repent  and Walk in the Light

Romans 13:12 “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”

4.  Sow good seeds; Sow to please the Spirit   Hosea 10:12 says “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”

And Galatians 6:8 says :  “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.”

“So be careful to do what the Lord your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left.  Walk in all the way that the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land that you will possess.”  Deuteronomy 5:32-33

5.  Grow spiritually.  “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into the Head, that is, Christ.”  Ephesians 4:15

2 Peter 1:5-6  “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;”

6.  Pray for spiritual discernment.  Hebrews 5:14 “But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”

7.  Know the real Enemy.  Ephesians 6:12 says “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”  So what do we do about this?  Put on the full armor of God!  The rest of this passage in Ephesians 6 explains how; (belt of truth, breastplate of righteousness, gospel of peace, shield of faith, helmet of salvation, sword of the spirit).  This passage concludes with the mandate, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.”

Just as I don’t want to lose the use of my right hand, I don’t want to see a part of the body of Christ shrivel up and die.  I want to see healing, restoration, renewal of faith, calling and assurance that God made each part for a purpose.  1 Cor 12:21 reads, “The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”  On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable.”

When the Body of Christ is broken because of sin in its members, I pray that we will have an attitude like Paul who wrote in Galatians 6:1, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.”

Eph 5:29-30  “After all, no one ever hated his own body, but feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church–for we are all members of his body.”