One of the things that the Covid crisis exposed was how fragile we are as human beings. I’m not just talking about the virus, I’m talking about the fear, anxiety, hopelessness, and depression that so many have experienced over the last few years. As a pastor, I’ve spoken with so many people struggling in these areas. If this has been you on any level, I encourage you to have a look at this incredible book! While not speaking to the Covid crisis at all, Dr. Rutland nevertheless provides some incredible tools to help us all find healing.
Courage to Be Healed: Finding Hope to Restore Your Soul by Dr. Mark Rutland does not disappoint! Dr. Rutland is known for his powerful preaching, teaching, and leadership coaching. He has served as a pastor, evangelist, missionary, university president and leadership guru. Rutland has also authored over a dozen books, many of them best-sellers.
In Courage to Be Healed, Dr. Mark tackles the subject of inner healing. While praying for the sick has been an important part of his ministry for many years, this book takes the reader on an inward journey, examining several emotional poisons that are every bit as deadly as the worst physical disease.
The four poisons that the book addresses are the toxin of shame, the toxin of unforgiveness, the toxin or rejection, and the toxin of fear. Each of these have the potential to hold someone in a deep and dark inner bondage. But, of course, before we can receive the healing that we need, we must come to terms with the fact that we need to be healed.
Rutland says, “Having the courage to be healed means facing reality as it is. How can I cry out, as did the wounded in the streets, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” if I have never courageously faced my need for mercy? Settling for the appearance of wholeness is the easier path. The inner self, where the stuff of nightmares litters the filthy floor of the soul, is no country for cowards.”
It takes courage to realize that I need to be healed. It requires vulnerability to open up to a pastor, counselor, or trusted friend who can pray with me and help me work through my hurt. For someone to truly be set free from one or more of these toxins also requires a desire to be healed. It seems like a no-brainer that anyone would want to be set free and healed but it is not that easy. Inner healing requires me to change.
A great example of this is in the toxin of unforgiveness. Am I willing to let the hurt go? Am I willing to release the person who hurt me? Deep-seated unforgiveness is often one of the most difficult of the poisons to get past. To truly be healed, I have to be willing to release the person to God and allow him to handle it as he sees fit.
One of the powerful components of this book is the fact that Dr. Mark provides transcripts from a number of actual counseling sessions, showing how a person was guided to a place where they could be healed of what had damaged their soul. These are extremely helpful and serve to help the reader flesh out the principles that Rutland is presenting.
Courage to Be Healed: Finding Hope to Restore Your Soul is an excellent resource for an individual but would also be great for a small group study. I can easily see a men’s or a women’s small group benefiting from working through this book. Click on the link and read the free excerpt. May God give us all the courage to be healed.
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