Turkish Bath
On my visit in Jordan earlier this year, my aunt and I went to a Turkish Bath. An appointment at a place like this is really a two or three hour event with multiple steps in the process. But, what I’d like to focus on is the last part of the process: Exfoliation, cleansing, and massage. As I’d never been to a Turkish bath, it was all new and I was just taking it all in. It was not until I was at church Sunday morning after my return that God used this experience as analogy to speak to me.
During exfoliation, you lay unclothed on a marble table and you are roughly scrubbed down all over. Not one place on your body is left untouched. The reason for this is to bring to the surface all of the dead skin cells, dirt, death, and grime in order to completely remove it from your body so that you can become completely clean. Once this task has been accomplished, they take the water and throw bowl after bowl of water across your body. As you lay there with your eyes closed, each bowl of water comes unexpectedly. After several bowls of water, everything has been rinsed off and cleared away. Now it is time to be cleansed.
The next step is to be fully lathered with soap and cleansed from head to toe. Once again this step ends with bowls of water being thrown across you coming from different directions to be completely rinsed off and now fully clean.
Finally, you move to another table to end the experience with a massage. Once again, no part of your body is neglected. Everything is massaged from your scalp to all of your toes and all that is in between. Throughout the massage, warm water is gently poured over you. This is a stark contrast from the bowls of water thrown across you in previous steps of the process. This experience leaves you feeling clean, warm, relaxed, and more than anything completely renewed, refreshed, and rejuvenated like a new person.This process is fully representative of how God works in our lives. Specifically, I see this part of the process as how we experience healing. First, exfoliation takes place. This is often difficult and painful. However, it is necessary in order to bring to the surface all of the sin and past hurts and pains in our lives which need to be extracted and removed. These are the things from which we need God’s healing.
But, exfoliation is only the first step; it doesn’t stop there. Second is cleansing. He takes the soap and water and cleanses us. He doesn’t just rinse away the sin and the pain, he completely and wholly CLEANSES us. But He still is not done yet. Just because the sin is gone and we are clean, this does not mean that we don’t have wounds from the pain and memories that we have been cleansed from. This is where the massage comes in. God takes His love, kindness, gentleness, and lovingly and patiently massages our everything: our heart, soul, mind, body, and spirit. Healing takes time, but God knows this and is with us throughout every step of the process.
Each and every one of us has experienced hurt and pain throughout our lives from which we need God’s healing. Many of us desperately need healing and yearn for it from the depths of our hearts, but we are scared. We must remember that we are not alone. God is with us every step of the way.
At the Turkish bath, each patron lays on the table completely vulnerable and exposed. But, in order to participate in the full process it is necessary to simply close your eyes and trust the person in charge. The same is necessary for us throughout the healing process and in our Christian walk. In order to give these hurts and pains to God, we must be completely vulnerable and fully trust in Him… exposed and vulnerable yet faithful. The result is rewarding. We are meant to be whole in Christ… to be fully restored in Him so that we can be active and productive for the kingdom, so that we can fully and wholly experience what God has for us.
Only God can heal, but a group of fellow believers can be encouraging and supporting during this time while we experience healing and pursue living our lives in ways that honor God. Romans 12:1 says “Present your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship.” We need to be cleansed, purified, and refined in order to become the Christians that God wants us to be and live the lives He has for us. I know this is an everyday commitment for me and I challenge you all to allow God to do miraculous healing in your life from the hurts and pains that you’ve experienced in the past and continue to impact you.
May God Bless each and every one of you. I can’t wait to meet you all in a few weeks! J
