Conversing with such a reliable Person as Jesus brings joy…regardless of external circumstances. In the study, subjects faced the full range of human experience and yet, they discovered that the consistency of positive relationships carried them through the day.
As followers of Jesus, I feel that no other relationship generates such positive experiences as the one with our Savior and Lord. Conversations with Him are essential to our own well-being. Who else can hold all our anxieties and pain? Who else has all the data points to provide the rich texture of guidance? Who else rejoices when we experience the blessings of His grace? Well-being and positive relationships are crucial to our eternal well-being. This is why Ellen White referred to our “joy of service.”
Conversing with such a reliable Person as Jesus brings joy…regardless of external circumstances. In the study, subjects faced the full range of human experience and yet, they discovered that the consistency of positive relationships carried them through the day. And carried them through the day in ways that went beyond surviving to thriving. The testimony of Scripture reveals a similar dynamic. The apostle Paul, writing from prison, can assert, “Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say, rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)
To consider “extending the healing ministry of Christ” within the framework of well-being and conversing with God, “healing” includes the richer integration of a fuller and wider conversation with God that awakens the dead bones and invigorates the soul. Conversing with God is a consistent practice of a healing soul. And as the Psalms demonstrate, the conversing takes on different types of emotions, different forms of expression, and a full-hearted engagement with God. There is no holding back. And this can be the kind of conversations had within the context of “positive relationships.” And this kind of healing relationship over the years contributes to the well-being of those who follow.
And just as a medical community comes together to bring healing to a patient, it takes a healing community where each person carries forth those ongoing conversations with God as a groundwork for the community. Healing does not occur in isolation. Conversing does not occur in isolation. Well-being does not occur in isolation. “It is not good for man to be alone.” If this is true for a pre-broken world, it remains doubly true for a broken world filled with messy people. Healing communities converse. At the center of this conversation remains the life, ministry, and full story of Jesus both now and for eternity. And it is this kind of integrated experience that gives us the courage to face hopelessness with courage, to defy the gravity of discouragement, and enter into whatever situation we face with a defiant hope.
John Grys is the Illinois Conference president.
