Our Healer and Peace

As the end of the semester draws to a close, students find themselves hard pressed to keep up with the demanding class schedule, the final projects and papers, and the threat of looming exams. Not to mention there are certain social obligations during the holiday season, and while Thanksgiving break is a much needed reprieve from the daily rush, it comes with its own challenges for many. At times such as these, it’s important to remember to call on the name of the Lord, our Healer and our Peace.

The Israelite people faced a challenge far greater than anything we can comprehend today. They had been enslaved for generations in a foreign land, without a home or freedom. They faced constant threat of punishment, poverty, and even mass murder. But the Lord brought them out of Egypt, and He told them in Exodus 15:26b that if they would only listen to His voice: “I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer” (ESV). “Jehovah Rapha” healed the people of Israel and eventually gave them a new home, a new nation. If He can do something so amazing for His people then, how much more will our Healer do for us now? If the semester has worn away at our patience and, yes, even our sanity, we can pray to one who promises to renew us day by day.

Once again when the people of Israel faced the threat of enslavement and war, they cried out to God, and He called a “mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12, ESV). Gideon was a soldier, a man of war, and God used him to bring peace to the nation of Israel. Knowing this, Gideon built an altar to the Lord after the angel brought the message of his calling, and he called that altar “Jehovah Shalom” or “The LORD Is Peace” (6:24). God does not promise that we will always have ease. He does not promise that hard times will not come, challenges will not arise, people will not try to oppress us, but He has given us victory, as He gave it to Gideon. He has given us peace in the midst of storms. So as we weather this period of life, we can be still and know that He is God.

Whether it is exam season, the holiday season, or any season of life that may try overcome us, the Lord our Healer and our Peace has promised to never leave or forsake us. When we are weary and injured, He will renew us. When we are afraid and in trouble, He will be our comfort. There is no problem too big for the God of the universe.