It Is Finished

Apr. 2, 2026

Healing Haiku

Growth in God’s own time.

Every 8 to 20 years

the Corpse flower blooms.

This is Holy Week for Christians around the world. We give special attention to Jesus’ journey to the cross to be sacrificed and crucified for us, then entombed and resurrected. His final words were “It is finished.” This post isn’t about that miraculous gift. At least, not directly.

If you have been suffering with something that has burdened you for way too long, this post is about your own resurrection.

My Substack writing is rooted in my personal principle of wanting to see people operate at their highest potential. Throughout my professional life I’ve seen people get in their own way of being successful. I have personal experience in that as well. I’ve also studied that phenomenon in professional settings.

Over the years of paying attention to patterns and processes, I have also recognized the parallels in our lives and scenarios in the Bible. Aside from the stories that are too much like today’s reality t.v. shows, there are quite a few rich lessons on recovery and restoration. Lots of people dismiss the Bible and lose the opportunities to gain deeper wisdom from the messages there. For whatever challenge we face, we can probably find sacred texts to address the trial and help us turn things around.

Here again is another Bible story that parallels real life.  I just heard the story of the four men with leprosy in 2 Kings 7 again, but quite differently this time. The setting includes their nation at war and their city suffering starvation. Because of their affliction, leprosy, they are isolated from others. In this passage they ponder their circumstances. They talk amongst themselves and come to a conclusion. They have no life where they are, so staying there is futile. Neither does it make sense to go back into their city because their situation won’t improve there either. They make a monumental decision to move forward into a territory where something different is possible. They chose to go in search of “better”.

What makes this move significant is that they have chosen to walk into the enemy’s camp in search of what they need to sustain themselves, food. They rationalize their choice by saying either one of two things will happen: that either the enemy will end their lives or they will be allowed to live. Nothing beats a failure but a try.

What the four men discover on the road to “better” is that the army they thought they would have to confront had abandoned their camp. The Lord had gone ahead of them and created such hysteria among the soldiers that they fled and left everything behind. Everything. There was more there than the four men anticipated finding; necessities and abundance. The four men walked into this blessing of resources that was there awaiting them.

As they satisfied their hunger, they also gathered valuables and clothing and hid them. Soon, they recognized that this blessing of “better” should be shared with the others back in the city who were also suffering. And they did.

I have known this story of the lepers for years but I had only heard of leprosy symptoms described in terms of an outward skin condition. However Dr. John R. Faison, a minister in Nashville, pointed out in a recent sermon that leprosy interrupts the body’s ability to feel. When I checked some medical websites, I read that leprosy attacks the nerves and can cause paralysis.

I know that feeling. That feeling of having had plans go up in flames, phone calls not returned, doors closed so many times that an incapacitating mindset becomes overwhelming. The danger with this is that the vision of what was intended gets cloudy, lost or shelved.

I’ll save the description of that downward spiral for another post.

Getting back to the four men and their epic decision, the narrative reads as an ‘all-at-once’ decision. Some shifts do happen that way, but not always.  Years ago when I was trying to find my way out of my personal war, I visited a deliverance church. The name clearly says this is where I could find what I wanted, and I needed my battle to end.

Before the minister began the sermon, a complete stranger approached me and informed me that although I was looking for deliverance to come all at once, deliverance does not come that way. She added that when I receive deliverance to share it with others. Only a divine messenger would have known to say that. I left there with a new understanding that my war would not end soon.

There can be many reasons for this numbing. Depression, trauma, ADHD struggles, fear and cynicism are a few explanations. That disoriented mindset locks down steady progress. The pessimism sets in when doors of opportunity continually close. I was searching for my next assignment and not finding my right place. I was starving.  Feeling like a leper became familiar.

If the Holy Spirit was conscientious enough to inform me that I’d have to endure a process, I’m now understanding that the Holy Spirit would guide me along the way. Books with information that helped me grow jumped out at me in the library. The transformation began with inner personal work that realigned me. It was an earnest restoration project.

Some types of nerve damage or neuropathy can be treated. Weak muscles can be strengthened. My shift came after I exercised that numbness and paralysis away. I rediscovered the power that has always been inside, but I lost contact with. The vision of what is possible - something better - became clear and movement began again. The spiritual myopia dissolved. People began telling me that my skin was glowing. I hadn’t started a new, intense skin rejuvenation regime. I had not noticed any change; it just evolved. Any leprous skin condition I may have had fell away. As the inner work was evolving, here was outward evidence that I was different.

It is finished.

I know the power I have and that I can achieve something better. Moving forward I have found that God has put things in place for me. New doors are opening. I’m finding allies and building new connections. Before I can put an ‘Amen’ on my prayer, resources and provisions are showing up.

Just as the four men realized they should not sit on the great gift they found, I’d be remiss in my responsibility to share with you what I have learned.

1.You can be overtaken with a numbness and a numbing mindset. One too many setbacks after you’ve put your all into something can knock you out of balance.

2.Do the inner work necessary to determine what’s needed to regenerate your thinking. Work your spiritual and physical muscles to reconcile your whole self from the fragmented person you became.

3.Launch out with the expectation of finding ‘better’. Resources show up.

4.When you find that better place, share the gifts you discovered. This is never only about you alone. Tell someone how God helped you out of your personal war. Let them know how you made it to the place where you could say with strength, “It is finished.”

Happy Resurrection Day!