Bible Verses for Healing, Strength and Encouragement

As the Word of God and sole doctrine of Christianity, the Bible is to be the believer's constant companion and resource. Through the Bible the Lord speaks to us, encourages us, teaches us and raises us up to be all we are meant to be in Him. By habitually seeking counsel with God through the Bible we mature in our personal relationships with Him, we increase in understanding of His ways and we foster the ability to teach and educate others in the ways of the Lord.

As a book of education and consultation, the Bible is given for our inspiration and motivation as well. If we stay close to God by daily journeying through His Word, we will find no end to the ways that God lifts us up from the valleys of life. Following are several passages that ring especially significant to me in my life.

Strength for the Struggling

"Strengthen the feeble hands,
steady the knees that give way;
say to those with fearful hearts,
'Be strong, do not fear;
your God will come,
he will come with vengeance;
with divine retribution
he will come to save you.'" (Isaiah 35:3-4)

Often growing up when I would find myself in an overwhelming situation or circumstance, God led me back to the concept and reassurance depicted in these verses. God is our refuge and shelter, and it is in Him that I find strength. If the Lord of all creation is for me and on my side, I can be strong in Him and stand against anything. Knowing that the Lord was with me through all my difficulties gave me the strength to persevere through and see those particular difficulties ended, and God did see me through those times, every single one of them.

Jesus Christ, Our Refuge

"'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.'" (Matthew 11:28-30)

In Jesus Christ there is such peach, there is no other person or thing I would rather trust my life to. Jesus Christ promises spiritual peace and satisfaction, and that is exactly what He has brought into my life. Knowing that I am not made to carry the burdens of life on my own, but that the Lord Jesus Christ carries them for me, is such a soothing truth. As the Word of God encourages us all, so do I encourage you, don't struggle under the weight of life and its burdens. We were not made to rut around in the dirt under the weight of all our difficulties. When we learn to lay our concerns and worries before the Lord, He takes our burdens and replaces that overwhelming weight with peace and assurance.

No Worries

If there is one thing I could call human nature it is the tendency to worry. I have worried myself sick over various needs, i.e. how will I do this, how will that get taken care of, and so on. The problem with worrying is that it produces nothing but anxiety. We don't accomplish anything through worrying and fretting over the circumstances we find ourselves in. We only end up digging our holes deeper. As the Word of God will teach us, this is not God's intent for us and is not how He desires us to live out lives, in worry and heartsickness.

'"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."' (Matthew 6:25-33)

I have read over this passage more times than I have years to my life. If the Lord were not my God, were not my provider and counsel, I don't know what would have become of me years and years ago. Jesus Christ's words are so full of truth and logic, especially here. It is true, worrying gains us nothing, yet do we stop when we realize that? In reading this passage, the Lord speaks peace and comfort into my soul that otherwise would simply not be there. When I find myself facing seemingly impossible tasks or needs, Jesus will lead me back here and tell me "remember what I've taught you?" I have no need to worry about anything. God is my provider and He has never failed in that (or any) duty.

The greatest thing about this passage is the gentle reminder to keep our eyes fixed on God. When we seek His will, and pursue it wholeheartedly, in doing so we are trusting those earthly needs to Him. He is the Lord of all creation! He already knows our needs, and provides them to us gladly when we lay our worries over them down before Him and trust that He will do what He has promised. Our relationship boils down to this: we only have one responsibility in this life, and that is to pursue the will of God - "His kingdom and righteousness". When we focus our whole minds on that one thing, everything else we need will be given to us, as we need them. God knows, and we just need to trust it all to Him.

Companion in Prayer

'"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."' (Matthew 18:19-20)

When something happens that concerns us, our first reaction should be to lift it up to God in prayer. Doing so, we have the Holy Spirit beside us, joining with our prayers. More so, though, when we pray together in fellowship and love, Jesus Christ tells us that He himself is there in prayer with us. The Son of God Himself is there praying with us, for the issues that trouble our hearts and concern us. Our concerns are the Lord's concerns, and knowing that He is with us, even in our times of prayer - what is left to fret over?

The Peace of Redemption

There is a feeling I get, and I know I'm not the only one, that tells me things are just not quite right in my relationship with God. I will do something I know is not in accordance with God's desire for me, and then this sin will eat away at me. I can promise you, as God through the Bible assures us, this is not how we are meant to be either. In the following passage from Psalm 32, David struggles with his own sense of shame and spiritual sickness at the weight of his sin.

"When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Selah
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, 'I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD' -
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin." (Psalm 32:3-5)

God did not make us with the intention that we would languish under the weight of our guilt. When we stumble, we of course feel shameful about it, but it is then when we must immediately look back to the Lord, look back to the cross of Jesus Christ and remember that His mercy is great and never-ending. I have let guilt eat away at me time and time again, even after I have confessed my sin to the Lord and He has removed it from me. How ridiculous is that, holding onto guilt even though the cause of it has been cleansed and is gone?

The Lord does not just remove our sins from us. As David noted, He forgives our guilt as well. This is reassuring in ways I still don't comprehend. When you feel that guilt, lay it before God and remember that whatever it was that brought you down into the pit, that sin is already forgiven and you have no reason to feel guilty.

In Jesus Christ every day is brand new. In Jesus Christ, we are new each morning. His forgiveness is enough to sustain us and lift us back up every single time we fall down.

Sources:
BibleGateway.com