Your Healer

At a place which the children of Israel called Marah (“bitter”), because the water was undrinkable, the Lord taught Moses how to make the water sweet. He didn’t have Moses use his rod or simply speak some words. Instead, He showed Moses a tree, which when placed in the water, made it sweet. Moses then taught the people the principle they needed to learn from this experience:

If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Exodus 15:26

Apparently, the water wasn’t just distasteful; it was harmful. The implication is that the water would have made them sick if the Lord hadn’t taught Moses how to purify it, which reminds me of the “many plants and roots,” which Mormon said that “God had prepared” for the Nephites “to remove the cause of diseases, to which men were subject by the nature of the climate” (Alma 46:40). God can not only heal, He can also teach us how to prevent disease.

I like the way the New American Standard Bible renders the end of that passage: “I, the LORD, am your healer.” (See parallel translations of Exodus 15:26 on biblehub.com.) Last Sunday in general conference, Sister Amy A. Wright said, “I testify that there is nothing in your life that is broken that is beyond the curative, redeeming, and enabling power of Jesus Christ” (“Christ Heals That Which Is Broken,” General Conference, April 2022).

In the same conference, Sister Reyna I. Aburto reminded us that God can heal us from all kinds of afflictions:

While some of us have physical challenges, many more battle with emotional strife, others struggle to nurture social connections, and we all seek respite when our spirits are challenged. We are all afflicted in some manner.

“We Are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” General Conference, April 2022

Sister Aburto reminded us that, when the Savior appeared to the Nephites and the Lamanites following His death and resurrection, He invited them to bring to Him “any that are…afflicted in any manner,” and “he did heal them every one” (3 Nephi 17:7-9). Sister Aburto said, “Let us follow Jesus Christ’s invitation to bring ourselves and our afflictions to Him…. He will make us whole.”

Today, I will remember that the Savior is willing and able to heal me physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I will remember that He can not only fix broken things but can also help me avoid becoming broken. I will bring my afflictions to Him, with the knowledge that He is my Healer.