Healing Hurt People Through The Great Physician

As a teenager in high school, my desire was to become a medical doctor. I even interviewed a physician about what it would be like. I remember watching the dignified, diminutive gray- haired old man who had been my childhood pediatrician, sitting in his office wearing his white lab coat. As we were talking, he placed his hand on a Bible lying on his desk and said, “Anyone who wants to be a doctor needs to read the Bible.” That impressed me.

Later, in junior high, I worked in a nursing home. The chief nurse, a lady with a soft South Carolina drawl, taught me some medical procedures. But mostly I mopped floors. During high school, I joined the Paramedical Club and studied Latin. After class, I volunteered at an animal clinic. The veterinarian knew of my keen interest. He taught me how to identify parasites in blood and stool samples and let me assist in some canine surgeries. But mostly I cleaned out cages.

My desire to be a doctor grew after my brother saved my life. My parents had gone to the store so my brother and I got into a pillow fight. As I jumped down from a chair to the floor, I stepped — barefoot — on an empty tea glass. I screamed while blood sprayed! Trained in First Aid by the Boy Scouts, my 11- year- old brother grabbed a towel and applied direct pressure to keep me from bleeding to death. Rushed to the ER, a surgeon worked on me. He found an artery and a vein severed deep inside my foot. Three hours of surgery later, I stood up to walk on crutches and promptly passed out! I was on those crutches the whole next year during fifth grade. I was in awe of what medical skills could do.

But during my senior year in high school, the Lord changed my desire. I realized that God was calling me to preach. With that call, came God’s compassion for hurting people. I read the New Testament stories of people healed by Jesus and his disciples. I studied the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the charismata, given the church so they can minister healing. What amazed me was how God’s grace seemed to impact people in every dimension of their life, not just forgiveness of sin. God’s mercy touched people in their whole being: spirit, soul and body!

We human beings are very complex. According to the Bible, we are created in the image of God — tripartite. We have a heart — an inner spirit person — able to connect with God who is spirit. We have a unique soul with thoughts and feelings (and memories) that makes choices, knows itself, and relates to other people. This identity is what makes you you! And, we have a physical body so that we can live in this material space-time world here on earth.

As a minister of Christ (a doctor of souls), I’ve found that many people aren’t well. If their body isn’t sick, their soul is. No peace? No joy? No good relationships? Remember, the soul is the seat of beliefs and emotions. Your identity comes from your soul. Behavior follows.

Sickness in the soul is readily seen in negative selftalk, social isolation, addictions, defiled sexuality or weird beliefs. These internal ailments wound our families and hurt our careers. I’m glad that I’ve discovered how the gospel is good news for hurting people. Jesus, the Great Physician, makes people whole!