“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?” (Jeremiah 8:22)
God sees what we don’t. He sees the fault lines in our lives. He knows where we need healing and perfecting. Unless we get help, we’re a ticking time bomb, an accident waiting to happen.
We have far less interest in our spiritual condition than our physical condition. But even when it comes to our body, we are more apt to treat the symptom than the underlying cause. It’s easier to take an aspirin than get an x-ray. As long as we get back to feeling better, we’re off on our merry way.
Pain is not a spirit that needs to be rebuked; it is a symptom that requires investigation. When David’s soul was in pain he cried out: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)
In some circles, it is a spiritual crime to be down at any time. We are supposed to always put on a happy face. But Peter knew it was possible to rejoice while in heaviness. “Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations” (1 Pet. 1:6).
Job was in tremendous pain. His friends were “miserable comforters” and “physicians of no value.” (Job 16:2; 13:4) They sought to get to the bottom of Job’s distress but had no clue as to what was going on. Job knew that only God could treat his suffering heart.
Pain can pop up out of nowhere. Sorrow can suddenly fill our heart. Things that shouldn’t bother us can trouble us greatly. “Why?” we ask, “What is going on?” God knows. And if we go to Him, in the same way as David and Job did, He will treat areas of our heart that have been in desperate need of tending to.
There is a “balm in Gilead.” There is a Doctor in the house. Don’t be afraid to take your hurting heart to Him. He will give you more than an aspirin. He will send His word and heal you.