“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Psalm 147:3, ESV)
It has been a tough, tough year for me. I have been admitted to the hospital 10 times. I have suffered the deaths of six close friends, including my best friend. My service dog died. We found mold in two places in our home and had to gut three rooms and replace the damage. The economy has trashed our finances as our gasoline and electric bills have gone up by thirty percent. Our savings have gone to pay for my wife’s surgery, my illnesses, for home repairs, and to maintain our old vehicles. My father has had another hip replacement. I could go on and on. In a situation such as this, I might be tempted to fall into a depression, drink myself silly, or turn bitter. Instead, my heart has become softer. My love for my wife and family and friends has increased. I pray more. I talk to God more. I seek more wisdom. I am drawn to Jesus.
How can it be that while so many fall apart with an abundance of losses, I do not? Each time I suffer, I pray and hold on tightly to my Lord. I ask the Lord to help and heal me. Over the years, I have trusted that God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Thus, God has healed my broken heart multiple times just this year. I let God bind up my wounds. I cry to HIM. I express my pain to HIM. I honor HIM. I love HIM.
After the death of a close friend, I cried on and off for days. A young woman saw my tears and asked me why I was so sad. When I explained that I was hurting after the death of my friend, she told me that whenever she has experienced such a loss, she deals with it by burying it deep and never thinking about it again. I asked her why she did that and she explained that it was too painful to deal with. I told her how God is more than able to “heal her broken heart and bind up her wounds” (Psalm 147:3). She responded that it helps her more to just bury it. I told her to try to let God heal her. She said she could not stand to do it. It would hurt too deeply.
Sadly, this young woman may never experience true healing from her wounds and losses. She is so busy keeping her hurt and pain and grief locked up in the recesses of her soul that her thoughts are riddled with bitterness and sorrow. Instead of leaning on God to help her heal, she is putting on a facade that everything is alright. She thinks herself strong in the face of adversity. It’s so untrue. While I work though my pains and sorrows with God’s help, coming out stronger in faith and closer to God, she experiences deep pain and regret and sorrow. When I have a quiet moment, I find myself smiling and talking to God. When she has a quiet moment, the pain and sorrow bubbles up to the surface of her thoughts causing her to tear up and face deep regret. I am letting my wonderful God heal me. She is not. I want so desperately for God to heal her as God has healed me. I pray for her often.
Why do people go through life keeping God away from their hurts and pains and sorrow and regret? Why will they not let God bring healing and bind up their wounds? I don’t understand their logic. I don’t understand why they choose to keep God from their walled-off hurts and pains in heart and soul. Isn’t that precisely where God needs to be?
Our God is a loving God (1 John 4:7-8). God not only expects faith and obedience, but God also responds with love and healing for those willing to seek HIM. God is able to bring joy out of sorrow and peace in the midst of chaos. Jesus healed the broken and freed many from the torture of evil spirits. That is the kind of God you worship. That God looks to heal you, even in this moment.
Years ago, the great preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote the following words…
“The Lord is a Healer. He restores the brokenhearted.
The Most High associates with the sick and the sorry, the wretched and the wounded. He walks the hospitals as the good Physician. His deep sympathy with mourners is a special mark of His goodness.
Few will associate with the depressed, but Jehovah chooses their company and stays until He has healed them with His comfort. He wants to handle and heal the brokenhearted. He applies the ointment of grace and the soft bandages of love. He binds the bleeding wounds of those convicted of sin. This is Godly compassion.
Well may those people to whom He has acted graciously praise Him. The Lord is always healing and binding. This is not new work for Him. He has done it from old. It is not a thing of the past, of which He is now weary, for He is still healing, still binding. Come, broken hearts. Come to the Physician who never fails to heal. Show your wound to Him who tenderly binds them up.” (p. 112, Beside Still Waters)
Is there some way you need healing today? Is there someone who needs your prayers for healing? Is there a way you can bring God’s healing to another? Let God heal. Let God work through you to heal others. God is a healer. You know this, right? Do you trust it? Have you allowed God to heal you or pushed God’s healing away somehow?
Are you a healer, too?
How can it be that while so many fall apart with an abundance of losses, I do not? Each time I suffer, I pray and hold on tightly to my Lord. I ask the Lord to help and heal me. Over the years, I have trusted that God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3). Thus, God has healed my broken heart multiple times just this year. I let God bind up my wounds. I cry to HIM. I express my pain to HIM. I honor HIM. I love HIM.
After the death of a close friend, I cried on and off for days. A young woman saw my tears and asked me why I was so sad. When I explained that I was hurting after the death of my friend, she told me that whenever she has experienced such a loss, she deals with it by burying it deep and never thinking about it again. I asked her why she did that and she explained that it was too painful to deal with. I told her how God is more than able to “heal her broken heart and bind up her wounds” (Psalm 147:3). She responded that it helps her more to just bury it. I told her to try to let God heal her. She said she could not stand to do it. It would hurt too deeply.
Sadly, this young woman may never experience true healing from her wounds and losses. She is so busy keeping her hurt and pain and grief locked up in the recesses of her soul that her thoughts are riddled with bitterness and sorrow. Instead of leaning on God to help her heal, she is putting on a facade that everything is alright. She thinks herself strong in the face of adversity. It’s so untrue. While I work though my pains and sorrows with God’s help, coming out stronger in faith and closer to God, she experiences deep pain and regret and sorrow. When I have a quiet moment, I find myself smiling and talking to God. When she has a quiet moment, the pain and sorrow bubbles up to the surface of her thoughts causing her to tear up and face deep regret. I am letting my wonderful God heal me. She is not. I want so desperately for God to heal her as God has healed me. I pray for her often.
Why do people go through life keeping God away from their hurts and pains and sorrow and regret? Why will they not let God bring healing and bind up their wounds? I don’t understand their logic. I don’t understand why they choose to keep God from their walled-off hurts and pains in heart and soul. Isn’t that precisely where God needs to be?
Our God is a loving God (1 John 4:7-8). God not only expects faith and obedience, but God also responds with love and healing for those willing to seek HIM. God is able to bring joy out of sorrow and peace in the midst of chaos. Jesus healed the broken and freed many from the torture of evil spirits. That is the kind of God you worship. That God looks to heal you, even in this moment.
Years ago, the great preacher Charles Spurgeon wrote the following words…
“The Lord is a Healer. He restores the brokenhearted.
The Most High associates with the sick and the sorry, the wretched and the wounded. He walks the hospitals as the good Physician. His deep sympathy with mourners is a special mark of His goodness.
Few will associate with the depressed, but Jehovah chooses their company and stays until He has healed them with His comfort. He wants to handle and heal the brokenhearted. He applies the ointment of grace and the soft bandages of love. He binds the bleeding wounds of those convicted of sin. This is Godly compassion.
Well may those people to whom He has acted graciously praise Him. The Lord is always healing and binding. This is not new work for Him. He has done it from old. It is not a thing of the past, of which He is now weary, for He is still healing, still binding. Come, broken hearts. Come to the Physician who never fails to heal. Show your wound to Him who tenderly binds them up.” (p. 112, Beside Still Waters)
Is there some way you need healing today? Is there someone who needs your prayers for healing? Is there a way you can bring God’s healing to another? Let God heal. Let God work through you to heal others. God is a healer. You know this, right? Do you trust it? Have you allowed God to heal you or pushed God’s healing away somehow?
Are you a healer, too?