Healing = Courage + Action + Grace ~ Part One

 Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on a BYU Devotional in January 2014, and it is called "Healing = Courage + Action + Grace" by Jonathan G. Sandberg. This post is part one. I would like to share with you some highlights whilst I was reading the Devotional, and I hope that you would be able to read something new whilst reading through this post. 

Jonathan has mentioned the following; "... A Formula for Healing ... We all need healing. For some of us that need is great today. There are likely among us those who are brokenhearted because a relationship has ended badly. Others are in pain because their parents have decided to divorce or a loved one has renounced the Church.

... I would guess that there are some today who have wondered if depression or anxiety will always be a suffocating influence in their lives, while other students are going through a loss that seems both unfair and unrelenting. ... Perhaps these folks look or talk or feel different from what may be considered “the norm.”

... Even the greatest among us, Jesus Christ, experienced betrayal, mocking, abandonment, loss of loved ones, and physical pain as part of His mortal experience. My hope today is to encourage you that healing is possible if you apply the principles that lead to healing.

... My talk is entitled “Healing = Courage + Action + Grace.” ... Courage to face a difficult situation and stand for truth, acting in faith by turning to God in prayer, and peace and strength from the Lord through His grace courage, action, grace.

Healing

What then is healing, and why should we seek it? My favorite talk on the subject of healing is a BYU devotional given by Elaine S. Marshall in 2002 entitled “Learning the Healer’s Art.” I strongly recommend you study it. ... I suggest you read it more than once.

"Little by little a little becomes A LOT."

Listen closely to her definition of healing: On [my] first day as a nurse, I assumed cure, care, and healing to be synonymous. I have learned they are not the same. Healing is not cure. Cure is clean, quick, and done often under anesthesia. 

... Healing, however, is often a lifelong process of recovery and growth in spite of, maybe because of, enduring physical, emotional, or spiritual assault. It requires time. ... It requires all the energy of your entire being.

You have to be there, fully awake, aware, and participating when it happens. Healing is much more than “getting better” or “having our problems go away.” Healing is growth, development, and maturation. 

In a word, healing is change. It takes time and energy and struggle, but healing teaches us. As Marshall said: Healing can help us to become more sensitive and more awake to life. ... Healing invites gifts of humility and faith. It opens our hearts to ... truth, beauty, ... and grace. But remember, even with all that beauty and growth and grace, healing does hurt. 

... How is it that a loving God would allow us to suffer? I have come to realize that my Savior cares more about my growth than He does about my comfort. One evidence of His love is that He does not spare me from the suffering I need for my development and progression, even when I get mad at Him.

... And, unlike other humans, He does not punish me when I am mad or hold a grudge or remind me of it the next time my heart is right and I ask for His help. I love how Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, described healing: Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. 

Sometimes a “healing” ... lifts our burden. But sometimes we are “healed” by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us. As we consider the key components for healing, let us remember that, in the end, healing is a gift from our Savior that will likely require effort and suffering on our part so that we can grow and develop through our struggles. The gift is often the refinement we experience in the process. ..."

Stay Tuned until next time.