Have you ever left an altar service feeling completely transformed, only to wake up weeks later wondering why nothing actually changed? You’re not alone in this struggle. Many believers walk around forgiven but not healed, carrying an internal narrative that whispers, “God can do it for everybody but me.”
This devastating lie keeps countless Christians trapped in cycles of shame, believing their story is somehow different. They’re too complicated, too damaged, or too far gone for God’s restorative power. But what if the problem isn’t that God can’t heal you? What if you’ve simply misunderstood the difference between instant deliverance and progressive healing?
The Altar Service Isn’t Your Final Destination
In Pentecostal and charismatic circles, we’ve witnessed incredible moments of deliverance, healing, and prophetic ministry. These altar service experiences are absolutely necessary and powerful, but they’re meant to be the initiation of a process, not the final step.
Meshali Mitchell, author of “Restored,” learned this truth through her own journey from trauma to freedom. Raised in a ministry family, she experienced devastating childhood trauma including her parents’ divorce at age 12, followed by addiction issues in her home. Despite being surrounded by faith and even attending Bible school, the internal wounds remained unhealed.
“I got to Bible school thinking that may fix these internal wounds that I had,” Meshali explains. “It didn’t heal me, it didn’t fix me.”
This experience resonates with countless believers who assume that more ministry involvement, more conferences, or more spiritual activities will automatically produce inner healing. The reality is that trauma doesn’t disappear simply because we increase our religious activity.
When Pain Demands to Be Felt
Meshali’s breakthrough came in her mid-twenties when she reached what she calls “a place of desperation.” Sometimes our lowest points become God’s greatest gifts because they force us to stop masking and start healing.
“Pain demands to be felt,” she discovered. “I was putting basically band-aids over bullet holes and just bleeding out, even as a believer.”
The acronym PAIN—Pay Attention Inside Now—reminds us that emotional and spiritual pain serves as an internal warning system. Just as physical pain alerts us to bodily injury, emotional pain signals areas that need God’s healing touch.
Many believers use spiritual experiences as spiritual Tylenol, numbing themselves to the very pain that could lead to freedom. But sanctification requires us to feel, process, and work through our wounds with God’s help.
The Room-by-Room Restoration Process
True healing happens progressively, like renovating a house room by room. You can’t do demolition and construction simultaneously; there’s a divine order to restoration.
Meshali describes her healing journey as letting the Lord “go into these rooms of my heart and let him lovingly deal with them and gut ’em and heal ’em and restore ’em.” This progressive healing approach acknowledges that:
- Some deliverance happens instantly
- Some healing occurs over time
- Sanctification is a lifelong process
- Each “room” of your heart may require individual attention
The healing process isn’t about God’s inability to heal instantly—it’s about His wisdom in healing thoroughly. Quick fixes often lead to surface-level changes, while progressive healing creates lasting transformation.
Breaking the “Exception to the Rule” Mindset
The most dangerous lie trauma survivors believe is that they’re somehow the exception to God’s healing power. Meshali carried this narrative for years, sitting in conferences and thinking, “God can do it for everybody but me.”
This exception mindset is reinforced by:
- Shame about past experiences
- Comparison with others’ testimonies
- Misunderstanding God’s character
- Unrealistic expectations about healing timelines
But here’s the truth that changed Meshali’s life: “Restoration was possible for me, not just possible, but a promise.”
The Partnership Principle in Healing
God’s healing process involves divine partnership. Meshali learned that “there was a part that God plays and there’s a part that I played in my freedom.”
This partnership includes:
- Confessing faults to trusted counselors or friends (James 5:16)
- Participating in Spirit-filled counseling
- Taking practical steps toward health
- Committing resources and time to the healing process
- Choosing vulnerability over performance
The biblical principle of confession—”confess your faults one to another so that you may be healed”—reveals why many Christians remain stuck. When we confess our sins to Christ, we receive forgiveness. When we confess to one another, we experience healing.
From Mold to Restoration
Meshali uses the powerful metaphor of water damage in a home to describe how untreated trauma spreads. Like mold growing in walls, unhealed wounds consume relationships, thought patterns, and daily functioning.
“It was consuming my relationships, my thought patterns were unhealthy. I was dealing with vicious thought cycles, anxiety, depression,” she explains.
Just as addressing mold requires more than air fresheners and bleach (you must tear out walls and rebuild) inner healing requires more than surface-level spiritual activities. True restoration demands getting to the root issues.
The Fruit and Root Reality
Meshali’s parting wisdom cuts to the heart of progressive healing: “To every fruit there’s a root.” For years, she treated symptoms while ignoring root causes.
Sanctification means taking an ax to the roots of our issues rather than constantly managing their fruit. This approach:
- Addresses core wounds rather than surface behaviors
- Creates lasting change instead of temporary improvement
- Builds spiritual maturity through the healing process
- Develops Christ-like character through trials
Your Healing Journey Starts Today
If you’ve been waiting for a single moment to fix everything, it’s time to embrace progressive healing. Your story isn’t too complicated for God. Your past isn’t too messy for His restoration power.
The healing process may be room by room, piece by piece, but Christ wants to do a deep restoration work in your life. What God has done in one area of your life is evidence of what He can do in every area.
Your healing isn’t the exception—it’s God’s promise.
Ready to begin your journey toward freedom? Check out Meshali Mitchell’s book “Restored.”
Discover more about walking in God’s restoration at Inherit Your Freedom. If this message has impacted your life, consider supporting this ministry as we continue bringing hope and healing to believers worldwide.