Dinah Kay

I’m thinking about silence. This belief about being quiet. This world. This day and age is so loud. So noisy. We constantly have something to distract us. A computer in our pocket, a portal to anywhere and nowhere. Every quiet moment. Every space of waiting has been filled with screens. Internal and external noise. This is going to date me, but in my head, I see the blank static of a TV screen. Very little quiet space left in our heads, hearts and minds.

Then there’s cognitive bias. Our lens through which we see the world. A common example of this is glass half-empty versus glass half-full. Some of this is our wiring. Some of this is determined by our environment. What we’ve experienced.

In Luke, a woman had been bleeding for 12 years before God had healed her. Then God healed her. After the initial relief, gratitude and shock wore off. After the new norm became well… normal. What was her cognitive bias?

Did she still feel like at any moment she would start bleeding? Was it difficult for her to believe the truth? Twelve years is a long time. Or did she have to remind herself that she was healed? That God had healed her?

So what if… you’re someone like me. Used to the noise of the culture. Healed by God in so many ways. But in quiet moments, in silence. In the struggle to hear the still, small voice… those not-so-rosy glasses of, “something’s wrong,” pops up. What do you do?

Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace

Luke 8:48

“Your faith has made you well,” appears over and over and over again in scripture. Jesus says this to people he’s healed. But he’s not just referring to their physical body. The word, “well,” means forgiveness of sins. A spiritual healing. Wholeness. Save. Deliver. Protect.

Faith in Christ delivers, heals, protects, saves.

That is a healing that is complete in body and mind. When Christ healed someone of their physical ailments, it was a reflection of what he also did in their hearts. Do we always experience a physical healing? No.

We can ALWAYS experience a spiritual healing in Christ.

So what does all this mean? It means that when I get quiet. My internal world wants to believe that, “something’s wrong.” Instead, I can build the muscle of believing that all is well.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well”

Julian of Norwich

This woman got suffering. Near death illness and paralysis. And this was her firm belief.

“All shall be well…”

In quiet moments, I imagine she struggled to reconcile the goodness of God with the intense suffering she endured. And yet…. this quote, from the 1300’s still lives on as part of her legacy. The reminder of God’s goodness no matter what the external reality.

So then, to build this muscle of retraining my cognitive bias. In the quiet moments, I breathe this prayer, “All shall be well…” as a reminder to my head, heart and mind. God is good. And he has healed me. Delivered me. And saved me.

Is it always easy? No. Is working out always easy? No. It’s building a muscle. A workout of faith. God leads me on his path of goodness. Gives me tools to see his glory. No matter the external environment, I can overcome. And believe the truth of his goodness.

And that is why I count it all joy.