“And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: for she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭9‬:‭20‬-‭22‬ ‭KJV

Healed– To make healthy, whole, or sound; restore to health; free from ailment.

Whole– containing all the elements properly belonging; complete: undivided; in one piece.

So I went shooting today. It was a pretty good day. My shots were closer together and more consistent. Except one arrow kept going lower than the others, despite aiming it in the same place. It happened multiple times and I couldn’t figure out what it was.

Then…I hit the little screw below the foam dice target. Now, my arrow didn’t break from the hit. It made a loud noise but it didn’t break. So that means I can use it again, right?

I could, but the shot would be off because the tip was just a little bent. The part I used to aim the arrow, its own tip, was way off course. And while it was off before, now it would be more off.

So what’s the point of all this? Well, the point is this: do we know what it means to be whole?

I asked that question because as I looked at the bent tip of my arrow, debating on whether to use it, God spoke to me.

“Just because something isn’t broken doesn’t mean it’s whole.”

The story of the woman with the issue of blood (in Luke 8:43-48, Mark 5:25-34, and Matthew 9:20-22) was brought back to my mind. I reread it after shooting and then it stood out to me. The woman was not looking to be healed, but to be whole. Jesus said her faith made her whole, not healed. Yes she was immediately healed but more importantly, she was complete. She belonged and was beloved by God.

As a person who has a few health issues, I cannot tell you how many times I’ve wished to be healed like this lady. That my issues would just go away so I could feel better.

Not whole, better, and that’s the issue.

Just like my bent arrow, I was seeing my health askew. My health was fixed if I was free of issues. Being whole would come after. I wanted to be healed, not whole. I wanted to be healed because I was tired of the pain and struggle and I just want to do things the way I did them before. And just like my arrow, something was off before when nothing was broken. But in the pain, discomfort, and difficulties I was enduring, I didn’t see that.

I wanted healing and I wanted it now!

God isn’t a genie. He’s not going to allow bent sights because those can take you way off course. Crooked sights will get you hitting more surfaces that will hurt you (I should know). So to prevent that, God is going to make us whole in Him. He’s going to take off the arrow tip and whittle away the crooked areas. He’ll set our sights straight.

The new adjustments will take some time to get used to. Just like the arrow won’t shoot like it did before, neither will we. So being whole may not look like what we pictured, but whole isn’t a look. Whole is about what we contain and how we contain it. Whole is about being undivided and complete.

So may God make you whole before He heals you and may your sights be straight. For God loves you and wants to make you wholly you.