I remember a time when I was around six years old, and my little brother wounded himself on the heel. I saw a little hole in his skin where white solid bone peeped out. Playing nurse, I got some Betadine and cotton and tended to his wound. After a while, my brother got up to run around the house again, as if no wound existed. Still, we knew the wound was there. It certainly took time for it to heal!
We are often like that when a wound strikes at a painful place. We cry, bury the pain with food or shopping or video games, and then pretend we are okay. But WE ARE HURTING. There are wounds that are far too deep for us to shrug off; wounds that no matter what we do, trigger pain.
When this happens, we can embrace this simple truth: God desires to restore our broken hearts. He desires to bring healing into our lives.
Psalm 147:3 says that “He [God] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
If we feel the pain of a wound, it can only mean that God is about to turn the ashes of our lives into something beautiful. However, this calls for our vulnerability. This calls for us to let go of every layer of defense that we use to “self-medicate.” We need to be truthful about our pain, about our own failures in the matter of our wound, about our own shame.
You see, when a wound strikes us, the pain comes and stays with its locked teeth till we take our hearts to God. Perhaps we heard harsh words spoken against us. Perhaps the death of our dreams happened. Perhaps the most valuable person to us was taken away. Perhaps we are angry at God or at our parents for failing us. Whatever it is that has caused our wound, the very best thing to do is to go directly to God our Healer and ask: “Father, what do You want to say to me regarding this?”
Let us allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Allow ourselves to grieve. If our feelings matter to us, then you can bet they matter to God! We can ask God to expose whatever lies we have believed in. Then we ask Him for the truth. What does He think about the matter? What does He say about us?
Yes, let’s make it so personal: God, what do You say about me?
Allow for God to be bigger than your wound. Allow Him to be bigger than yourself. Allow for God’s thoughts of you to overwhelm you. You’ll be amazed when you realize that God’s true and perfect love can heal your hurt, and pain, and shame.
God has the master keys for each person’s identity and destiny. Just because something bad happened to us does not mean that all is lost. God can still turn the ashes of our lives into beauty. That’s His specialty.
Why not take the time right now to go to God? Speak to Him about your wounds. Ask Him to visit the most tender places in your heart. Ask Him for how He sees you. Ask Him for His thoughts. You’ll be amazed as God pieces your heart together, covering you in His love and delight.
If you don’t know how to start, you can say this simple prayer:
Father, my heart is broken. Can you heal me? This hurts so bad. Please speak to me. Tell me what you think. Tell me how You see me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.
After you say this prayer, LISTEN. Listen to our Father as He speaks to you. His voice is not the voice of condemnation. It has never been. His voice is the voice of deliverance. The voice of love. The voice of healing. His voice will always agree with His words in the Bible. Your can bring your shame to Him. He will bind up your wounds.
It is my prayer that the stories you read in One Voice Magazine will make you delight in the love of our Father. He is a good Father who loves to wipe the tears of His children.
One with you in this journey called life,
Janina Marie
Janina Marie Rivera is the author of the book, A Night Bird Sings of Blindness and Fear and has co-authored the devotional, Dawns, published by OMF Literature. She is a contributing poet in the books Joyful Light and Whitmanthology: on Loss and Grief by Various Authors. She is the Editor-in-Chief of One Voice Magazine.
