There are a lot today in our culture who talk about wellness.  There are wellness coaches, wellness programs, and a myriad of opinions on how we can be well. I think most people recognize the great need for healing.  We are people who are inherently NOT well.  We are broken and warped, twisted by our sinful natures.  Of those of us who are members of the family of faith, however, there is a way that we can be well despite our sinful condition.  The scripture above states that the Lord “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”  This is the same language that is used in Isaiah 61:1-2 “The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He 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 and the day of vengeance or our God, to comfort all who mourn…”  This is also the scripture that Jesus read in the synagogue at the beginning of his public ministry and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing,” (Luke 4:21).  For those who have put their faith in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, the process of healing has begun.  The first words that Jesus spoke to his disciples after his resurrection were “Peace be with you.”  Jesus reassures the disciples that they have his “peace.”  The Greek word used here transliterated is “eirene” is equivalent to the Hebrew word “shalom” used by the writers of the Old Testament.  These words are translated into English as “peace,” yet these terms connote a much deeper, more profound significance than our usual definition of peace.  The terms express a complete and entire emotional/physical/spiritual well-being among people that affects every aspect of life and every relationship.  Paul in his letter to the church at Ephesus states, “For Christ himself brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us…He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death” Ephesians 2:14-16.  True well-being and health are obtained through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  This shalom is also not an individual experience but one that provides restoration to all relationships.

Let us pray for healing and restoration in our lives and relationships that God might be praised and glorified and that His peace may penetrate every aspect of our being.