Don’t You heal it?
Why don’t You heal?
And why since you’ve stolen my heart,
Do you leave it so?
Oh this heart of stone.
Why don’t you carry away my heart
You have stolen and left here broken
Why don’t you carry away my heart
Already taken
Awaken the dawning of a new heart
Where stone begins to bleed
For the arrow of God that runs through me
Leaves me in need
Here in need
Awaken
How long? How long? How long?
"Wounded" by Shane and Shane
My dear friend Katie has loaned me a Beth Moore book called "The Beloved Disciple." It is about John and how we can read through his story how much Christ loves us, that we are His beloved.
I just finished part one of the book. The first part ends by talking about healing and how God's word brings healing about. As I read the last sentence of part one, even though I am loving this book, I was prompted to just sit for a moment. A thought was forming and I needed to let it develop. So I sat for a bit, the word 'healing' bouncing around in my head.
So often, we view healing as this immensely personal and private thing that ought to only be shared once we've been thoroughly fixed. I definitely believe that parts of our healing are meant to be shared between ourselves and God alone, but I think that often we hesitate in sharing our story because we haven't 'arrived' yet.
In my own life lately, the Spirit has really been impressing on me the importance of living every area of my life as an outward expression of the grace and love that Christ has shown me. Anything that I am and have that is good is only because of the goodness of my God. It is not my own so I shouldn't keep it for myself. As I thought about this in the context of healing I realized that the process is as much a blessing as the end result, especially if I'm living outwardly.
Experiencing healing from a deep hurt in my life is not simply for my own benefit. Healing is a result of pro actively following my Savior on a daily basis. I don't say, "Lord, heal me!" and suddenly my life is peachy. I say, "Lord, heal me!" and He says, "Look to me, child, and I will show you what Love really is." Healing is replacing what we were taught love is with love Himself.
When I think of doctors and that they use things to heal people, I am even more amazed at God's work in my own life. I am astounded by medicine today and just how much we know about the human body, but everything we know is a temporary fix administered by a third party. But there are wounds in our lives that go far beyond the physical and touch us in deeper and more profound ways. When those wounds need healing God says, "Let me apply Myself. The only thing that will ease this pain is...Me." God doesn't give us a prescription - He gives us Himself. If we think going to church on a regular basis, attending four Bible studies and volunteering at a rescue mission every Saturday will bring fulfillment and healing, we've got another think coming. The truth is, apart from Jesus being at the center of our restoration, all of those other things are distractions.
So what does this have to do with living outwardly and inviting others to join our healing process? Remember how I said all the good things in my life are from God? This also goes for the healing that has taken place in my life. When God reveals another glimpse of Himself to me and another part of my heart is restored, I am being transformed bit by bit into the likeness of my Healer. When I choose to close people off to my hurt and consequential healing, I am closing them off to a unique experience with the Lord that they may only ever have if I share my story. How blessed are we to have a God that manifests in myriad ways so that people from all walks of life may know Him.
I encourage all of you to be willing to bleed a little for others - you'll find that even that will become a part of your healing. :o)
Here are a few verses that I turn to when I'm struggling:
20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."
~Isaiah 30:20-21
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
2 After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
3 Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
~Hosea 6:1-3
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion;
therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
to the one who seeks him;
~Lamentations 3:19-25
How He saved me, how he raised me
How He filled me with the Holy Ghost
How He healed me to the uttermost
When I think about the Lord
How He picked me up and turned me around
How He set my feet, on solid ground
It makes me wanna shout;
"Hallelujah, thank you Jesus,
Lord you're worthy of all the glory
and all the honor, and all the praise!"
"Healed" by Shane and Shane
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