Red: Healing
I love to attribute different colors to God’s character. But why not also attribute color to his actions?
Think of the action of healing.
Does it glow green, like new life? I’m sure when Namaan’s leprous skin was healed, a sense of new life was full on his mind! His skin “became as healthy as the skin of a young child” (2 Kings 5:14 NLT). Or perhaps healing is purple, like the royalty of the kingdom of God. Healings do announce God’s kingdom here in our midst. But maybe healing is golden; that honey-gold hue that reminds us of the goodness of God. If anything, healings must at least be blue since the glory of God is seen and known in the unforgettable moment!
And then there is Red.
Blood red. It makes us think sacrifice, deliverance, redemption, and salvation; of the broken body of Christ; of the Lamb of God pouring out his life for all humanity.
Is healing red?
I think healings are soaked in red.
When our mind is broken with depression and anxiety, we can remember the sound of the soldier’s whip on Jesus’ body. Through this affliction he made peace.
Peace for us.
When betrayal is the food we eat and our heart cannot imagine trusting again, remember how Jesus’ eyes were blurred by blood pouring from the thorns pressed into his head. Inspite of the mocking betrayal of others, he made a humble offering.
An offering for us.
When our souls are suffocating under dark thoughts of suicide and self-hatred, remember Jesus used the support of the nails to raise himself up for another breath. While suffocating, he suffocated the power of darkness. His overcame.
Overcame for us.
The other “colors” are beautiful to associate with healing and easily encourage us: the new life of God, the Kingdom of God, the Goodness of God, and the Glory of God.
But healings are also soaked in red — staining our lives with the sacrifice, affliction, and suffering of one so precious, yet silent before his oppressors.
When we ask for healing, may we remember what it cost. And may it give us more confidence in our faith.
