Healing By God's Grace

Description

This blog explores the profound ways Jesus’ miracles in the Bible resonate with the modern experiences of mental illness, trauma, and emotional suffering. Through reflections on the demon-possessed man, the woman of blood, and the paralyzed man, the blog shares a personal journey of self-injury, mental illness, and the life-saving support of loved ones. It highlights how faith —both personal and from those around us— combined with God’s compassion, can bring restoration, peace, and hope, even in the deepest places of pain.

Table of Contents

• Introduction

• Mental Illness & Self-Injury

• From Suffering To Peace

• The Faith of Friends & Family

• Conclusion

Introduction

When I think of healing by God’s grace, I think of all the women and men in the Bible that Jesus healed. His compassion toward the brokenhearted. His mercy for those struggling with sins. His dedication to those cast out and mistreated by others. And His love is so great that words cannot truly describe its magnitude. Recognizing that if Jesus loved and healed all of those people, then He would for me, too.

In the Bible, Jesus healed many individuals due to their needs, their requests, their faith, and the requests and faith of their loved ones. Numerous stories are shared discussing Jesus’ actions. Some of these include Jesus healing a man with leprosy (Matthew 8), Jesus healing the daughter of a Gentile woman (Matthew 15:21), Jesus healing a woman with chronic menstrual bleeding (Mark 5:24–34), Jesus healing a paralyzed man (Luke 5:17), and Jesus healing the blind (John 9). Throughout the New Testament, Jesus repeatedly heals many people, performing miracles on those deemed to be sick, crippled, and permanently afflicted.

As I reflect on these many stories, I notice a recurring theme in how Jesus heals many who are outcast from society, mistreated, and suffering from great illness. I considered how those with mental illness who have survived abuse can relate to the people described in these stories. Abuse against others was just as prevalent in the ancient world as it is today, if not more so. There are many historical accounts showing that those who suffered great illness or impairments, as described in these Bible stories, were mistreated and even abused by members of society, including both family members and strangers. The abuse they experienced would have certainly worsened their afflictions and impacted their mental health.

I connect this to survivors of violence today. Individuals who have been abused by their family, community, or society often suffer significant mental illnesses as a result. These mental illnesses can last for many years or even a lifetime. I imagine that when Jesus healed someone of physical illness, He would most certainly also heal their mind and heart from the emotional and mental suffering they developed due to their affliction and the abuse from others.

Mental Illness & Self-Injury

Jesus Heals a Demon Possessed Man, Mark 5:1–20

During this period of history, it was believed that individuals showing symptoms of mental illness were under attack from demons. Mark 5:1–20 describes a man possessed by many demons, which caused him to act violently, self-isolate, and cut himself with sharp stones. If we reflect on this story through the lens of mental illness, this man was suffering from a severe mental disorder. To self-mutilate is a sign of extreme emotional and mental distress—an expression of deep emotional agony. Reading this story made me reflect on my own experiences with self-injurious behaviors.

One of the impacts of my mental illness, when it has been severe, was the urge to cut myself. I did this due to self-hate, emotional pain I didn’t know how to express, a desperate need to feel some sense of release, and so much more. A common misconception is that individuals who self-injure do this for attention. This is untrue. For me, I hid my injuries and scars. I didn’t want people to know what I was doing to myself or how I felt.

It was extremely difficult to wear shorts after I had self-injured for several years in my adolescence, as others would see the scars on my thighs. It took a tremendous amount of courage to finally wear clothing I liked and that was appropriate for hot weather. At the time, I was a senior in high school. My peers significantly bullied me as a result of seeing these scars. I often went to the bathroom or the counselor’s office to cry because of their words and because of how difficult it was for me to live with my scars, the reality of my actions, the agonizing emotional and mental pain, and simply with myself.

I’m proud to say I experienced several years of abstaining from this behavior. This was a major accomplishment. However, as an adult, I experienced what for me was a traumatic event, a betrayal and mistreatment by someone I considered my best friend. This experience impacted my mental health, resulting in a deep despair and renewed self-hate. I struggled to cope with these feelings and experienced a recurrence of self-injury. As the wounds healed, I began writing scriptures on my thighs that reminded me of God’s love, how precious we are to him, and about Jesus healing different people. I wrote scriptures on my thighs until I learned to love myself the way God loves me. 

I connected my own experiences of self-injury to the story of a man possessed by a demon who caused him to self-injure. I found it relatable in a way. The mental illnesses I experienced caused such deep self-hate and emotional distress that they motivated me to self-injure. At times, it felt like my mental illness was a different part of me—a cruel, heartless, abusive, and violent part of me. I can imagine that the man in the Bible was experiencing extreme mental and emotional distress, feeling like a different part of him was attacking himself. When Jesus cast the demons out of the man, the man is described as becoming perfectly sane. This tells me that when Jesus cast out the demons, He was also healing the man’s mental health.

Continuing to connect the concept of demons representing mental illness, I would describe myself as someone who was impacted by many demons. My mental illnesses have ranged from mild to severe and even life-threatening. I have lived with mental illness for the majority of my life, impacting my relationships with others and with myself. I have felt like these mental illnesses are a life sentence of pain, self-destruction, societal isolation, and condemnation. Reflecting on how Jesus healed many people with physical afflictions, mental illness, and demonic attacks, and how those people felt much of the same things, it brings a sense of solidarity. It also brings me hope. If Jesus healed all those people, then He would heal me too.

From Suffering to Peace

The Woman of Blood, Mark 5:24-34

The story of the woman with the issue of blood describes a woman who experienced continuous vaginal bleeding. Normally, a woman’s uterus is lined with a layer of blood-rich tissue each menstrual cycle in preparation for a potential pregnancy. If pregnancy does not occur, this lining is shed through menstruation, resulting in a monthly period. However, the woman described in the Bible suffered from a condition that caused her to bleed continuously, a problem known medically as menorrhagia or abnormal uterine bleeding.

In the historical context of the story, women with such symptoms were often considered ritually unclean and were frequently excluded or marginalized by their communities. They also experienced abuse from society, including but not limited to:

• Social Isolation and Ostracism: During this time, women who were menstruating were considered unclean. They were often excluded from community gatherings, religious worship, and everyday social interactions to avoid “contaminating” others. If a woman who experienced chronic bleeding was identified, she would be more than excluded for the short time of a typical period; she would be rejected by the community and forced to live outside of the town.

• Emotional and Psychological Abuse: Community members were not the only ones who would mistreat a woman with chronic bleeding. Family and friends would also reject her. There is significant emotional and psychological pain associated with this level of rejection from society and from those who are supposed to be your loving supports. The emotional distress from this experience could cause feelings of loneliness, worthlessness, and despair. I imagine that at times, someone who experienced this type of trauma and abuse would have felt suicidal. Their illness being too much for others to bear witness to, and even too much for themselves to live with, leading to deep depression and potentially suicidal.

Mark 5:24-34 describes this story in depth. The woman of blood appears in the story Jesus Heals in Response to Faith. This woman believed so strongly that Jesus was able to heal her that she trusted she would be healed if she even touched his clothing. Despite societal abuse, the woman sought out Jesus among a crowd, which took courage. While hidden in the crowd, she reached out to touch his robe out of his sight, almost as if she worried Jesus would reject her too if he knew who he was healing. The Bible describes how she was instantly healed, and Jesus said, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.” 

His compassionate response gave her identity as someone loved and accepted—as a daughter. A woman who felt so estranged from her own family and society was now embraced and valued. Jesus praises her for her faith. Her faith was trust and belief that she would heal. The significance of Him telling her to go in peace is equally powerful. This woman didn’t experience any peace in her life due to her illness. How liberating it must have been to live in peace because of Jesus’s healing—her suffering from illness for the majority of her life finally over.

The Faith of Friends & Family

Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man, Mark 2:1-12

Another theme I reflected on was the faith of individuals afflicted or the faith of family and friends of the afflicted. Many people put in effort and faith that their loved one would heal. These people worked to support their loved one through whatever challenge they had. They sought out Jesus, trusting that Jesus would heal their loved one. Despite having distance with several biological family members, there are a few who have loved and supported me as well. In my life, I have had several friends who have become family who have gone to such significant efforts to support me through the trials of my life. Their love, compassion, patience, unwavering support, and faithful presence to me is so strong. They have carried me through trials and mental illness.

Mark 2:1-12 describes the story of Jesus healing a paralyzed man due to the faith of his friends. In this story, Jesus was preaching in a house, and a crowd had gathered inside the house and crowded the street outside. There was a group of four friends who had learned that Jesus was in town, and they thought about their paralyzed friend. They believed that if they could bring their friend to Jesus, then he would be healed. These four carried their paralyzed friend on a mat to the house where Jesus was preaching. Yet the crowd was too dense, and it would have been impossible to get the paralyzed man through the crowd. So, they carried their friend onto the roof of the house and dug a hole through it in order to lower their friend down into the house.

This man’s friends worked so hard to support him. The amount of love these friends must have felt for this man—to put in so much effort to help their friend heal—sounds more like family than friend to me. I also think it is noteworthy to identify that it was not biological family who carried him, a sign that he was estranged from them. The Bible states how, when Jesus saw the faith of his friends, He healed the man.

The support from loved ones—biological and chosen family alike—has been critical in my healing. Their dedication to me when my mental illness has been severe has been life-saving. Their empowerment when I felt weakest gave me a confidence that I would heal. At times, these people have had more faith that I would heal than I did in myself. I am blessed to have people in my life like those who carried the paralyzed man.

Conclusion

In my life, I have found healing through my faith in God. The Bible offers countless scriptures that have brought me comfort and restoration, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. In this blog, I have focused on three powerful stories that have deeply impacted my healing journey. These three people—the demon-possessed man, the woman with the issue of blood, and the paralyzed man—have each resonated with my own experiences of mental illness, the support I have received from loved ones, and the healing I have found through Jesus.

The demon-possessed man’s story speaks to the battles within the mind and heart—the deep emotional and mental distress that sometimes feels like a cruel force attacking from within. Like him, I have wrestled with self-injury and mental illness, and I find hope in knowing that Jesus not only cast out demons but also healed the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.

Like the woman of blood who suffered continuous bleeding and the stigma that came with it, I have felt marked by my mental illness. I have lived with mental illness for the majority of my life, long before I was officially diagnosed. When my mental illness has been severe, the symptoms can be excrutiatingly difficult to live with. The woman of blood resonates with me in many ways. Most importantly is that she found healing and peace through Jesus. 

I have also reflected on the story of the paralyzed man whose friends showed unwavering faith by carrying him to Jesus, breaking through obstacles to bring him healing. In my own life, I have been carried by friends and family whose love, patience, and faith have been lifelines during my darkest moments. Their belief in my healing has sometimes been stronger than my own.

If you are reading this and struggling with mental illness and trauma, know this: you are not alone. God’s grace reaches into the deepest places of pain and offers hope, restoration, healing, and peace. Healing may look different for each of us but have faith that you are healing and you will heal.