God's Expectations: Your Path to Spiritual Healing and Freedom

Discover what God truly expects from you on your journey to healing and spiritual freedom. Learn how to surrender to divine healing, walk with Jesus through pain, and embrace forgiveness.

The journey to spiritual healing often begins with a simple question: "What does God expect from me?" If you've experienced trauma, painful memories, or emotional wounds, understanding God's expectations isn't about adding more burdens to your life. It's about discovering the pathway to freedom He's already prepared for you.

Healing is possible. Not through more religious activity or striving, but through understanding what Yahweh truly desires from your relationship with Him. The path forward involves surrendering your pain, walking with Jesus through difficult memories, and embracing the transformative power of forgiveness.

This guide will walk you through five essential aspects of what God expects from you on your healing journey—not as obligations, but as invitations into a deeper, more authentic relationship with Him.

What You'll Discover in This Guide

• Surrendering to God's Healing: The First Step to Freedom

• Walking with Jesus Through Past Pain

• Embracing Forgiveness as God's Design

• Growing in Authentic Relationship with Yahweh

• Multiplying Your Healing Journey

• Frequently Asked Questions

 Surrendering to God's Healing: The First Step to Freedom

God's first expectation isn't perfection—it's surrender. Many of us carry wounds from our past that we've tried to heal on our own. We've applied bandages of busyness, self-help strategies, or even religious activities to cover our pain. But God expects something both simpler and more profound: bringing our wounds directly to Him.

The Biblical Foundation of Surrender

In Psalm 147:3, we read that God "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." This isn't just poetic language—it's a promise. God expects us to acknowledge that we cannot heal ourselves. Just as a patient must trust a surgeon with their physical body, we must trust God with our emotional and spiritual wounds.

Surrender begins with honesty. When we admit the full extent of our pain to God, we're not telling Him anything He doesn't already know. We're simply aligning our perspective with reality—that we need divine intervention for true healing.

How Surrender Differs from Resignation

Surrendering to God's healing isn't passive resignation. It's an active choice to stop fighting battles on your own and to allow the Creator of your soul to restore what's been damaged. It means saying, "God, I've tried to fix this on my own, and I can't. I need You to heal what only You can heal."

This surrender involves bringing specific wounds to Him rather than vague requests for "feeling better." When you identify particular memories, relationships, or traumas that need healing, you're giving God access to the root causes of your pain, not just the symptoms.

Practical Steps Toward Surrender

Begin by creating a sacred space—a time and place where you can be honest with God about your pain. This doesn't require elaborate preparation. It simply means setting aside distractions to focus on your conversation with Him.

Next, name your wounds specifically in prayer. Instead of saying, "God, I'm hurting," try "Father, when this specific event happened, it broke something in me that I haven't been able to fix. I surrender this memory to You."

Finally, visualize placing these wounds at the foot of the cross. This visualization isn't just a mental exercise—it's a spiritual act of releasing control and trusting Jesus with your deepest pain.

Remember that God doesn't expect you to have perfect faith in this process. He honors even the smallest step toward surrender with His healing presence.

Walking with Jesus Through Past Pain

One of God's most profound expectations is that we would allow Jesus to revisit our painful memories with us. This concept might seem strange at first—why would we want to return to the scenes of our greatest suffering? But this is precisely where deep healing begins.

Jesus as the Divine Time-Traveler

God exists outside of time. For Him, your past, present, and future are all accessible. When you invite Jesus into a painful memory, you're not asking Him to go where He hasn't been before. You're simply becoming aware of His presence in moments where you previously felt alone.

In Isaiah 43:2, God promises, "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you." This isn't just about future challenges—it applies retroactively to waters you've already passed through. Jesus was there, even when you couldn't perceive Him.

The Healing Process of Memory Work

When you invite Jesus into a painful memory, you're allowing the truth of His presence to transform your understanding of what happened. This doesn't change the facts of the event, but it can completely change its hold on you.

Begin by asking the Holy Spirit to bring to mind a specific memory that needs healing. Then, in prayer, invite Jesus to show you where He was in that scene. Ask questions like, "Jesus, what do you want me to know about this moment?" or "Lord, what truth do you want to speak into this pain?"

This process isn't about manufacturing comforting fantasies. It's about allowing Jesus to reveal spiritual realities that were always present but that your pain prevented you from seeing.

Overcoming Common Obstacles

Many people hesitate to engage in this kind of prayer because they fear being overwhelmed by the emotions connected to traumatic memories. This concern is valid, which is why walking with trusted spiritual companions or counselors is often necessary for processing severe trauma.

Others worry that focusing on past pain contradicts scriptural encouragements to "forget what is behind" (Philippians 3:13). However, this verse refers to achievements Paul might have boasted in, not traumatic experiences that require healing. We can only truly "leave behind" what has first been acknowledged and healed.

God expects us to trust Him enough to walk back into difficult places with Jesus as our guide. When we do, we often discover that these memories become testimonies of His redemptive power rather than sources of ongoing pain.

Embracing Forgiveness as God's Design

Perhaps no expectation of God challenges us more deeply than forgiveness. Yet forgiveness isn't just a command to obey—it's a pathway to freedom that God has designed for our benefit.

The Divine Economics of Forgiveness

Forgiveness operates on a spiritual principle that often contradicts human logic. We naturally believe that holding onto grievances somehow punishes those who've harmed us or protects us from future hurt. God expects us to recognize a deeper truth: unforgiveness primarily imprisons the one who cannot forgive.

In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells the parable of the unmerciful servant, revealing that forgiveness isn't just about releasing others—it's about experiencing release ourselves. When we forgive, we're not saying what happened doesn't matter. We're transferring the debt from our own emotional accounts to God's perfect justice.

Forgiveness as Transfer, Not Dismissal

God expects us to understand that forgiveness doesn't minimize wrongdoing. It doesn't mean we pretend we weren't hurt or that what happened was acceptable. Instead, true forgiveness acknowledges the full weight of the wrong and then consciously transfers the right to repayment to God.

This transfer is captured in Romans 12:19: "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." When we forgive, we're not ignoring justice; we're entrusting it to the only truly just Judge.

The Process of Genuine Forgiveness

Forgiveness rarely happens in an instant, especially for deep wounds. God expects us to engage in an honest process that might include:

First, acknowledging the full extent of the hurt. Before you can forgive, you need to be honest about how you've been wounded. This isn't dwelling on pain; it's recognizing reality.

Second, releasing your right to repayment. This means consciously deciding that you will no longer expect the offender to make things right or pay for what they did.

Third, asking God to bless the person who hurt you. This doesn't mean approving of their actions or even restoring relationship. It means actively choosing to wish them well rather than harm.

Finally, remembering that forgiveness may need to be reaffirmed multiple times, especially when emotions resurface. God doesn't expect perfect, one-and-done forgiveness. He walks with us through a process that gradually loosens the grip of resentment on our hearts.

By embracing forgiveness as God's design rather than an impossible demand, we position ourselves to experience the freedom He intends for us.

 Growing in Authentic Relationship with Yahweh

At the heart of all God's expectations is His desire for genuine relationship. Many of us have been trained to focus on religious performance—doing the right things to earn God's approval. But God expects something far more meaningful: authentic connection with Him as Yahweh, the personal God who knows and loves you.

Beyond Religious Performance

Jesus consistently challenged the religious performance mindset of His day. In Matthew 15:8-9, He quotes Isaiah: "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules." God expects us to recognize that He desires our hearts, not just our religious activities.

This doesn't mean spiritual disciplines like prayer, worship, and Bible study aren't important. Rather, it means these practices are meant to foster relationship, not replace it. They're channels for connection, not checkboxes to mark off.

The Courage of Authenticity

Being authentic with God requires courage. It means bringing Him your real thoughts, feelings, and questions—not just what you think a "good Christian" should say. The Psalms model this kind of raw honesty, with expressions of doubt, anger, and confusion alongside praise and thanksgiving.

God expects you to come as you are, not as you think you should be. When David writes in Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me, God, and know my heart," he's inviting God into his authentic interior life, trusting that God's response will be love, not rejection.

Hearing God's Voice in Everyday Life

An authentic relationship with Yahweh involves both speaking and listening. Many believers struggle with the concept of hearing God's voice, expecting dramatic interventions rather than the "still small voice" described in 1 Kings 19:12.

God expects us to develop discernment for recognizing His guidance, which often comes through:

Scripture illuminated by the Holy Spirit, revealing personal application beyond intellectual understanding.

Inner promptings that align with God's character and biblical principles.

Confirmation through the counsel of mature believers and circumstances that align with scriptural wisdom.

Dreams, visions, or impressions that bring peace rather than confusion or fear.

Learning to recognize God's voice is like developing any relationship skill—it takes time, practice, and a willingness to sometimes misunderstand before clarity comes.

God's expectation of authentic relationship isn't burdensome. It's an invitation into the kind of connection your soul was designed for, where healing flows naturally from being fully known and fully loved.

Multiplying Your Healing Journey

The final expectation God has for your healing journey may surprise you: He expects that your personal healing will become a source of healing for others. This isn't about becoming a professional counselor or ministry leader (though it might include that). It's about allowing your story of transformation to create ripples of hope in your immediate community.

The Biblical Pattern of Multiplication

Throughout Scripture, we see a consistent pattern: God heals and delivers people not just for their own benefit, but so they can participate in His larger redemptive work. In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, Paul writes that God "comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God."

This multiplication principle means that your wounds, once healed, become uniquely qualified entry points for ministering to others with similar pain. The very experiences that once caused you shame can become the places from which your greatest ministry flows.

From Consumer to Contributor

God expects a gradual shift in our orientation—from being primarily consumers of healing resources to becoming contributors to others' healing journeys. This doesn't happen overnight, and it doesn't mean your own healing needs to be "complete" (which is rarely the case this side of heaven).

Instead, it means being willing to share your in-process story with those who need to hear that healing is possible. It means being honest about both your breakthroughs and your ongoing struggles, offering hope without pretending to have all the answers.

Creating Healing Environments

One powerful way to multiply your healing journey is by creating or contributing to environments where others can experience God's healing presence. This might look like:

• Hosting a small group in your home where authentic sharing and prayer for healing are welcomed.

• Serving in healing ministry at your church, using your experiences to inform your compassion and approach.

• Intentionally building one-on-one relationships with those who are earlier in their healing journey than you are.

• Supporting healing ministries financially or through volunteer service, even if you're not directly involved in ministry to others.

This multiplication isn't about creating dependency or positioning yourself as someone who has "arrived." It's about walking alongside others on the same journey, sometimes a few steps ahead, sometimes learning from those who've traveled certain paths before you.

God expects that as you experience His healing, you'll become increasingly willing to be a channel of that same healing to others—not through your own power, but by pointing them to the same Jesus who met you in your pain.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I know if I need healing for past trauma?

You might need healing if you notice persistent patterns of emotional reactivity, relationship difficulties, or spiritual blockages that seem connected to past painful experiences. Signs include strong emotional responses that seem disproportionate to current situations, recurring nightmares or intrusive memories, difficulty trusting others or God, or a sense of being "stuck" in certain areas of your life despite your best efforts to move forward. Even if you've adapted to function well despite past trauma, unhealed wounds can limit your capacity for joy, intimacy, and spiritual freedom. The good news is that recognizing the need for healing is the first step toward experiencing it.

Can I really forgive someone who isn't sorry for what they did?

Yes, you can forgive someone who isn't sorry, though it's often more difficult. Biblical forgiveness is a decision you make regardless of the other person's attitude or actions. When you forgive someone who hasn't apologized, you're not saying their actions were acceptable or that reconciliation is possible without addressing the wrong. Instead, you're releasing your right to hold their debt against them and transferring the case to God's perfect justice. This kind of forgiveness frees you from the burden of resentment while leaving room for appropriate boundaries. Remember that forgiveness is often a process rather than a one-time event, especially for deep wounds. God walks with you through this process, understanding both your desire to obey Him and your struggle to release deep hurts.

How do I start helping others heal when I'm still in process myself?

You can begin helping others even while still on your own healing journey by sharing appropriate parts of your story with humility and hope. The key is to be honest about being in process yourself while pointing to the source of healing—Jesus—rather than positioning yourself as having all the answers. Start small by listening compassionately to others and offering to pray with them. Share specific ways God has met you in your pain, being careful not to overwhelm them with details they haven't asked for. Consider joining a ministry team where you can serve under experienced leadership, allowing you to contribute while continuing to learn. Remember that some of the most effective healing ministers are those who remain transparent about their own ongoing need for God's healing touch.

Taking Your Next Step Toward Healing

The journey we've outlined—surrendering to God's healing, walking with Jesus through pain, embracing forgiveness, growing in authentic relationship with Yahweh, and multiplying your healing experience—represents God's heart for your complete restoration. These aren't burdensome expectations but invitations into the freedom Jesus promised when He said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

Your healing journey is unique, and God understands exactly where you are on this path. Perhaps you're just beginning to consider the possibility that deeper healing is available. Maybe you've experienced significant breakthrough in some areas but feel stuck in others. Wherever you find yourself today, God meets you there with patience, compassion, and the power to transform your deepest wounds into testimonies of His faithfulness.

We at Oaks of Righteousness believe that Jesus still heals today, and that He often works through communities of believers who create safe spaces for His healing presence. If you're ready to take your next step toward freedom, we invite you to contact us about our healing resources, prayer ministry, and community support.

Remember, what God expects from you isn't perfection but participation—saying yes to His invitation to heal, grow, and eventually help others do the same. That journey begins with a single step of faith, which only you can take. Will you take that step today?