Spiritual healing isn’t always about dramatic miracles. For many living with chronic illness, grief, or fatigue, healing often shows up in the smallest ways — a quiet moment of peace, the choice to forgive, or a sprinkle of joy that breaks through sorrow. These gentle steps, anchored in faith, open the door to real freedom.
Two years ago today, I sat in the tender space of my best friend Jackie’s celebration of life.
Just days before she passed, Jackie asked me to speak at that service. Her request was simple, yet profound:
“It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.”
She had wrestled in her final years with the deep pain of people who had hurt her and those she loved. In those last conversations, she wanted it made clear that forgiveness brings freedom — not only for those we forgive, but for us. Forgiveness is a choice, and in choosing it, we receive a taste of the freedom Christ secured for us.
Sprinkles of Joy — God’s Respite in Grief
Earlier that year, Jackie and I had attended a family Celebration of Life service together. Later, she reflected on how the children at that service shifted the atmosphere. Their laughter, their play, their innocence — it lightened the weight of grief for a moment. Jackie called those moments “sprinkles of joy” and gave thanks that God Himself sprinkles these little gifts into our lives to ease sorrow and bring balance.
Forgiveness, too, is a kind of sprinkle of joy. It doesn’t erase the pain or change what happened, but it offers a God-given reprieve from bitterness — a breath of freedom in the midst of sorrow. And like joy, forgiveness is something we choose.
Reframing Spiritual Healing
We often imagine healing as something dramatic — an instant miracle, a sweeping breakthrough, a moment where everything changes at once. And yes, God can work that way. But more often, His Spirit moves gently, almost imperceptibly.
- A verse that steadies a weary mind.
- A laugh that breaks through grief.
- The release that comes when we forgive.
These are sacred, even if small. And it doesn’t matter what your struggle looks like — whether it’s frustration with unrelenting pain, exhaustion from fatigue, or the heaviness of grief. We still have a choice. We can choose joy. We can choose forgiveness. We can choose to let God meet us in the little steps of trust.
That’s what Jackie wanted us to remember: both her sprinkles of joy and her final words point to the same truth — there is freedom in choosing, one small moment at a time.
Choosing Life in the Everyday
In Deuteronomy 30:19, Moses says:
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”
Choosing life doesn’t always mean giant steps. Often it’s found in the smallest daily ‘yeses’ we whisper to God:
- Choosing to pray, even in fatigue.
- Choosing to rest, without guilt.
- Choosing to forgive, when resentment feels easier.
- Choosing joy, even when sorrow presses in.
Each of these becomes an act of choosing life. And when we choose life, we also step into freedom — the very freedom Jackie held onto, even in her final days.
Freedom in Gentle Steps
This has become the way I live my own healing — through safe, Spirit-led micro-steps that invite God to meet me in the everyday. It isn’t about giant leaps or pushing harder. It’s about the gentle choices that slowly shift us toward life and freedom.
Because freedom is found not in one grand moment, but in the gentle practice of choosing life again and again — choosing joy when sorrow presses in, choosing gratitude when fatigue lingers, choosing hope when fear whispers. These choices open us to the quiet work of God’s Spirit.
And when we learn to notice joy — even in the smallest of sprinkles — we find ourselves walking in the freedom Jackie spoke of. Choosing joy, peace, and hope in the little moments is itself a declaration of freedom.
A Gentle Invitation Forward
Your healing does not need to be dramatic to be real. God often works in the quiet — in sprinkles of joy, in whispers of peace, in the steady reminder that you are not forgotten.
If you’re longing for a gentle way to begin, I created The Imperfect Healing Plan as a first step. It isn’t about fixing everything at once, but about taking one small, grace-filled step at a time.
Because freedom isn’t always loud, but it is always real. As Jackie reminded me in her final words, “It is for freedom that Christ has set you free.”
So today, let this be your invitation to life:
“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” — Deuteronomy 30:19
One gentle choice. One yes to life. One step toward freedom.