Healing Humanity
by: Kaitlyn Cey
Gina’s voice cracked with emotion as she described the waves of anxiety and sadness she had been experiencing throughout the pandemic. My friend Gina has struggled with anxiety on and off throughout her life, but recently, the feelings of isolation are suffocating her. Shame filled her voice as she described how weak she felt.
“Surely God is disappointed with me,” she said. Gina believed she would be strong once she had been mended. Fixed. We naturally long to cover our weaknesses so we can feel in control. We tend to think we are more useful when we feel strong. But God’s way of making us useful for His Kingdom is far greater. He doesn’t view us as problems to be solved or busted up tools to be fixed so that He can then use us. Instead, God says we are his intricate and complex artistry, on a journey towards newness in Christ Jesus.
He is the artist.
The Psalmist writes, “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it” (Ps 139:14 NLT). God longs for us to bring our real selves before Him. He already knows our imperfections. Instead of denying our faults, we can find acceptance in the presence or our Loving Father and acknowledge them as part of His design to heal the world.
Healing doesn’t come by achieving perfection, it comes by allowing the light of God’s perfect love to touch our honest cracks and crevasses, fears and failures, questions and confusion. As God’s love transforms these spaces in our hearts, his power can flow through us to others, and then we become trustworthy guides for people to find healing and wholeness through their own experience of His love.
Real power never emerges from our own performance but is produced when we depend on the grace of Jesus alone, made available at the cross. Paul writes, “And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” – 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
Although it may seem inglorious, God’s plan to administer healing and hope to the world requires that you and I embrace our weaknesses and invite others on an authentic journey of faith where we are continually being made new and experiencing greater degrees of glory. Yes, this is God’s plan to heal the world and we are called to take part in it.
God uses our relationships to be the means by which people around us find true and lasting hope and healing. This is good news! This is how Gospel advances!
And it requires us to be weak.
To be real.
To hurt.
To be vulnerable.
For our own healing.
And to bring restoration to the world.
The Power of Real Relationships.
A relationship is defined as “the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.” People may admire our strengths, but we connect through our shared humanness. There is no need to appear strong, certain or unbreakable. In fact, when we do, we prevent our relationships from acting as the healing agents they are meant to be. Instead, we can embrace the truth that God is healing humanity through his sacrifice as we make much of God’s transforming power in our lives, and act with His love towards one another. As we humbly submit to the process of being made new and bravely allow others to see our raw broken pieces, pride is dismantled, and Jesus is properly exalted as Healer of all.
He takes our jagged parts, and makes exquisite art.
Today in Canada, due to the pandemic, families and friends are separated physically, opposing political opinions are cracking relational bonds that once seemed unbreakable and economic realities are creating deep desperation. Everyone is experiencing this pandemic differently, and there is no right way. For some, the inability to be present with loved ones is causing feelings of helplessness and for others fear and anxiety is mounting with growing restrictions. Still other people are ignoring the pandemic altogether and choosing to disregard the uncomfortable emotions associated with our collective societal struggle.
There is no denying that our lives and relationships have changed and will continue to morph.
However, the hope of the Gospel remains the same.
And as we ask God to heal our land and hearts, we need not look to our own strength, ingenuity, or power – but to trust that as we continue to humbly allow God’s power to flow in and through us, God is healing humanity. God is healing our land.
“Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” – 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT
Kaitlyn Cey is a Pastor, Educator and Certified Leadership Coach; she is the co-founder and director of Inspire Nation, which exists to inspire youth to overcome struggle and influence the world for Jesus.
Life Purpose Statement:
To experience wholeness, through Jesus, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually and empower others to experience the same, so we can all bring His transformation to the world.
Instagram: @kaitlyn.cey
Facebook: www.kaitlyncey.com