The private place of healing

I recently read through the Gospel according to Mark in my daily devotions.  Not only was Mark a phenomenal writer, but there were two specific passages that fascinated me.

The first is in Mark 7.

“And they brought to [Jesus] a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged Him to lay hands on him.  And taking him aside from the crowd privately, He put his fingers into his ears and after spitting, touched his tongue.  And looking up to heaven, He sighed and said to him ‘Ephphatha’, that is ‘Be opened’.  And his ears were opened and his tongue was released and he spoke plainly.”

And the second story is in the following chapter, Mark 8.

“And they came to Bethsaida.  And some people brought to Him a blind man and begged Him to touch him.  And He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when He had spit on his eyes and laid His hands on him, He asked him, ‘Do you see anything?’  And he looked up and said, ‘I see people, but they look like trees, walked.’  And Jesus laid His hands on him again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.”

I know that the most unique occurrence in these miracles is the fact that Jesus used His spit to heal.  There are still discussions flying around about why and whatnot.  But when I read these stories, my heart was drawn specifically to the fact that in both of these healings, Jesus performed them in private.

“taking him aside from the crowd privately”… “He took [him] by the hand and led him out of the village”…

Why, Jesus?

I read an article that claims the reason why Jesus healed these men away from the public eye was because, specifically for the passage in Mark 8, the town of Bethsaida was one that Jesus had rebuked for being one of unbelief.  So bringing the blind man away from the faithless people of the village was in order for Jesus to heal him in the strength of His own presence, where the young believer could have the powerful environment to firmly believe.

Another beautiful view on it is that, not only was Jesus doing this for the man’s sake, but also because He wanted to have a private moment with him.  It was just the two of them.  It was an intimate connection.  A time of renewal, between the Creator and His creation.
This is amazing.  Jesus thinks about every detail, doesn’t He?

This got me thinking.  This “healing in private” concept.

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that in today’s day and age, publicly sharing about personal trials and traumas is a common occurrence.  This has bothered me for quite some time.  Mainly because I’m a huge advocate for keeping your personal life private.  But mostly due to my personal opinion being that: constantly exposing little snippets of emotional pain and circumstances is more of an attention-seeking tactic than anything.  Sometimes people share too quickly with the world before they have truly processed, dealt with and healed from an experience.  It seems to me that everyone who operates this way wants only for people to read their posts and captions, ask for details, ask what happened, why are you so sad, etc.  I read a quote once that said “If you have to talk to more than three people about the same problem, you don’t want help.  You want attention.”  And I think that’s extremely accurate.  In the thick of the grieving process, wanting attention only creates noise and temporary gratification.  It sparks a bad connection because in reality, there is only one way to heal.  One way to find wholeness.

And it can’t be found on the world wide web.

I am not saying that hurting individuals should suffer alone through their grief.  Absolutely not.  There is enormous comfort in sharing traumatic experiences and having a support group made up of family and closest friends.  But there is a bare minimum of what is appropriate or not to share with the public.  If you need prayer, ask someone you trust with your personal affairs.  If you need encouragement, seek it from someone whose words you can know, with confidence, are full of truth and life.  But do these things with the intent of needing solace for your hurting heart.

And in the quiet, in the private moments, when it’s just you and Jesus, the power of His healing touch is distinguished and felt more keenly.  When it’s just you and Jesus, the voices of the crowd are not heard.  When it’s just you and Jesus, you can focus purely on Him and what He’s doing in your life and not be distracted by the attention of others.

And remember that true warriors don’t parade their conquers on a screen.

You see their physical scars, the victory in their eyes, the passion in their voice, and the strength in their energy.  You hear their survival stories when you ask them to tell you.  You hear the details when they choose to share them from a platform of healing, not in the midst of their turmoil.

Stay away from the crowd.  Go to the secret place.

It’s the best meeting grounds to collide with Jesus’s healing.