*Disclaimer- I received this book through Baker Books Bloggers in exchange for an honest review- all opinions are my own*
Do you want to be made well?
Jesus asks an ailing man this exact question before enacting his healing upon him in the 5th chapter of John.
Jenny Simmons, in her new book Made Well: Finding Wholeness in the Everyday Sacred Moments, reminds us that it’s not always the physical healing of being made well that Jesus is asking this man about, that we need. That sometimes the “broken things aren’t fixed here and now.” And that on occasion, “Miracles happen, cures are discovered, and seemingly impossible situations and relationships are redeemed and restored here and now. But even if they are not, my ability for wholeness is not diminished or stolen. Far beyond the curing of our bodies or the fixing of our temporal situations, God is in the business of making us well in completely other ways.” I constantly need this reminder- that even IF NOT, He is still good. He is still God and can make us well in ways we could never imagine.
She shares her life’s journeys and the hardships she’s endured, and uses her story and the stories of so many others that she has met, to show us the divine intervention in everyday moments. How God has used an insignificant event, a song, a note, to show Himself in the midst of dire situations.
As a mom, her words are balm to my weary, over-scheduled soul. She encourages us to not stretch ourselves thin- that, “we must learn to incorporate holy pauses in our day if we are ever to glimpse the healing that hides right beneath our noses. We don’t need a lavish vacation or trip around the world to seek healing, it can happen, “between breakfast and babies, lunch breaks and long lines, between raising children and rising careers, between momentous occasions and mundane living…”
Words I need to tattoo on my person.
When we seek healing in our instant gratification society, forgetting that sometimes, “healing looks like a slow dance, not an epic trip around the globe,” we are shortchanging our God and what wondrous things he can do across our lifetimes.
I often look back at the struggles I’ve gone through. The moments when I thought I could not possibly go on. When I couldn’t feel him there beside me- like the old poem says, I can look back now and see that He was carrying me. And that He has set up divine appointments in my life again and again.
Made Well is like an old friend. One you can laugh and cry with. Encouragement in the dark moments. A reminder that God uses so many people and situations in our lives, ultimately for good.
If you’re struggling now- endure. “The truth us, we can go to the ends of the earth to seek healing, but some healing can’t be found through a hospital, medicine, a support group, or a therapist.So much of our healing happens when we come face-to-face with a God who shows up in closets, on long runs after the worst news of our lives, and in sanctuaries on our hardest days.” But, I also love that she includes that sometimes, on the flip-side, God DOES use therapists or medication to make us well. That there’s no shame in seeking help.
This book is another on my must-read list. Truly helping us to find wholeness in the every day. Add it to your reading list- and go ahead and grab a copy for a friend who might need encouragement in her journey to be made well.
