Tag Archives: wounds

HE HEALS THE BROKEN-HEARTED

Christian Life, ,

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.

THE BOOK OF ACTS – A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

Bible Study, ,

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

“The jailer got a torch and ran inside. Badly shaken, he collapsed in front of Paul and Silas and asked, “Sirs, what do I have to do to be saved, to really live?’ They said, ‘Put your entire trust in the Master Jesus. Then you’ll live as you were meant to live — and everyone in your house included.’

“They went on to spell out in detail the story of the Master — the entire family got in on this part. They never did get to bed that night. The jailer made them feel at home, dressed their wounds and then — he couldn’t wait till morning! — was baptised, he and everyone in his family. There in his home, he had food set out for a festive meal. It was a night to remember: He and his entire family had put their trust in God: everyone in the house was in on the celebration.” Acts 16:29-34 (The Message).

What a reversal of roles!

Did Paul and Silas ever dream, when they got up that morning, that the day would end like that? Locked in a maximum security cell with their feet in leg irons under heavy guard wasn’t exactly on their agenda. They were minding their own business when the slave girl harassed them and called forth Paul’s reaction — evict the demon and restore peace. The outcome was more than they bargained for.

Their response to the vicious treatment they received left all the other prisoners shaking their heads. Praying and singing instead of swearing and protesting! How could these men be so nonchalant about their predicament? And then the earthquake! Not only Paul and Silas were free, but all the other prisoners as well — and no one took the opportunity to escape! Now that’s surprising — and supernatural! God would have been guilty of executing a jailbreak!

And then the jailer’s response! From a typical authoritarian Roman civil servant, he became a humble enquirer. What did he perceive, in these events that shook him to the core? He had locked up many a guilty criminal but never had he seen men behave in this way and never had any god intervened so decisively to free his innocent devotees. There had to be more to this than he could fathom.

Fancy a jailer begging his prisoners for mercy! This whole scenario is mind boggling. Paul and Silas grabbed the opportunity to tell him what he wanted to know but they did nothing to capitalise on the strange turn of events to secure their freedom. The jailer had no authority to release them and they put no pressure on him to do anything illegal.

It was the jailer’s initiative to take them home and try to undo some of the injustice they had suffered. Since when did a jailer every entertain prisoners in his home, wash and dress their wounds and feed them like royalty — and all this in the early hours of the morning? His new-found faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the boundless joy that overflowed from his heart produced this passion to serve these two servants of the Lord.

It’s no wonder Paul could write these words: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose,” Romans 8:28 (NIV). Little did they know that, by the end of that day, a whole family would have been born into the kingdom of God through their suffering.

Every word that Paul penned to the beloved saints in church after church was written in blood and suffering, but every experience was worth it. He could say with utter confidence, “We know…” His Master, Jesus, had to learn obedience through His suffering — not by trial and error, but by obeying — and Paul, likewise, learned that the fruit of his suffering was eternal in its value.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV).

Light and momentary troubles? In the light of the eternal value of those who believed through his suffering, yes!