March 11, 2024

Remember how fearful everyone became during Covid? When it first erupted, everyone was trying to isolate to not spread the virus. But as the weeks went on that isolation became incredibly painful. The hugs and kisses and warm embraces that we once took for granted we now craved. I remember one video of a woman who arranged for her elderly mother and her to hug each other through a protective sheet of plastic. I cried as I watched them weep in each other’s arms. As a high-touch person myself, I was deeply moved. There is incredible power in touch.
Jesus knew that. He also knew that it had been a long time since the leper had been touched. So though He could have simply spoken the word of healing over the man, he didn’t. He reached out and touched him. The touch let the man know he was no longer dreaded, no longer feared, and no longer rejected. The touch told him that he was clean, he was restored, he was accepted. The power went out from Jesus and healed the man of his leprosy. But the touch from Jesus’ Hand healed the man’s heart and breathed life into the man’s soul.
Reading this today reminded me that Jesus has the ability to heal our emotional needs and relational needs as well as our physical needs. Yes, He can heal our diseases. Yes, He can forgive our sins. But there’s something else. Jesus can touch that tender part of us that needs to feel accepted again. He can mend that broken and detached part of us that needs to feel whole. That’s a deeper healing.
Could you use that today? Maybe you’ve been rejected in a relationship and woke up today feeling unwanted and undesired. Maybe you’ve messed up big time and woke up feeling dirty, as if you’re coated in sin. Maybe you need more than just forgiveness or a word of comfort and encouragement. Maybe today you need a hug. Maybe you need God to wrap His Arms around you and let you feel a touch from His Divine Hand. Fall before Him today. Cry out to Him today. Let Him hear the desperate need of your heart and soul. Ask God to reach out His Hand to you today and give you what you really need—A Deeper Healing. That’s God’s Word for you today.