God's Best-Kept SecretSýnishorn

The Lord’s Favor

Understanding God’s best-kept secret—that we already have everything we need in Christ to live the Christian life—is great news for our future! But what about our reactions to what we’ve already lived through? In my counseling practice, many Christians ask me, “How can I emotionally heal from past experiences and trauma?”

It’s a good question. I’ve found that mental and emotional healing is not separate from spiritual growth; it’s an essential part of spiritual growth. So I tell people that Jesus is the answer to their struggles. 

Isaiah 61:1–2 points to this healing ministry of Jesus Christ when he came to earth:

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. (NIV)

Let’s unpack this.

Jesus brings the good news of salvation to the poor. One of the meanings of salvation is to “make whole.” The poor include those in need spiritually, emotionally, mentally, or financially. Part of Jesus’s ministry is to make people spiritually, mentally, and emotionally whole.

Jesus came to bind up the brokenhearted. This means he came to put your broken heart back together with his love. He frees people whose lives have been wrecked by their own sins or the sins others have committed against them.

Jesus came to free the captives. Many Christians are held captive by the lies they believe. Jesus frees us from those lies and replaces them with his truth.

Jesus came to provide release from darkness for prisoners. He came to release us from Satan’s oppression. This oppression includes mental and emotional turmoil. It also includes people imprisoned by their habitual sins.

All this is still the ministry of Jesus today. Jesus is our answer for mental and emotional healing. His salvation includes this healing as one of the amazing blessings he wants for us. Though mental and emotional healing is not automatic, it’s still something he wants us to experience.

Where are you hurting from what’s happened to you? In your prayer time today, turn to Jesus in honest expression of what you’re feeling, asking him to bring you healing.