Psalms 147:3 NLT
[3] “He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.”

I love to watch the video clips on my phone of a group of men who rescue seals entangled in discarded fishing gear. (If only these people who carelessly ditch their useless lines and nets into the sea, could just catch a glimpse of what their thoughtlessness does to our valuable sea creatures.)

These dedicated men sacrifice hours on the beach at Pelican Point in Namibia, scanning the area for entangled seals. They spend time and energy netting the victims and carefully cutting them free from their painful imprisonment. Some seals are close to death because they are being suffocated or unable to feed. Lines, ropes, and nets indiscriminately inhibit their freedom.

Sometimes seals have deep
wounds cut into their flesh. To release them causes severe pain, but they are often patient while their rescuers probe the wounds to find the strands that cause so much damage.

Imagine the joy of freedom that drives them into the healing water of the ocean where they can frolic and feed without hindrance.

How like our own experiences in life! Who is not wounded by the thoughtless deeds and words of others? How many of us carry the damage deep in our hearts for years, unable to free ourselves from the hurt others have inflicted on us.

We compound the damage by our own toxic attitudes and reactions. So, the wounds fester and grow, fed by our bitterness and self-pity.

I have also observed and experienced how God works, sometimes over many years, to cut the cords of pain and hurt, and free the sufferer from the entanglement. He heals the wounds in the ocean of His love, leaving only scars that remind the sufferer of His grace that rescued and healed all the emotional wounds.

There is no longer any pain to remind the sufferer of his agonising years. Unanswered questions are no longer important. He can look at the person or persons who caused the wounds with complete indifference, feeling none of the anger and resentment that once captured his mind and emotions.

Truly, there is only one who can rescue us so completely that even the memories no longer hurt.

If we trust ourselves to the love of the Father and patiently wait for His work to be done in us, He will sever the cords that bind us to the hurt. He will heal the wounds that others have caused. He will cleanse our hearts from all unrighteous thoughts and attitudes that embittered us. He will turn our memories into memorabilia that only remind us of events, not emotions.

Psalms 55:22 NLT
[22] “Give (Hebrew -” throw down” or “fling”) your burdens (Hebrew – “that which Providence has given you”) to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.”

Sometimes, the things we hate in life are God’s way of allowing us to experience His grace. Without the pain we have suffered, we can never know the joy of release and freedom. We may not fully understand the purpose of suffering but, if we are willing to receive it as grace gift-wrapped in pain, hardship, trials and tests, we can learn to celebrate our hardships because our weaknesses qualify us to receive His strength.