I have watched several hospital drama series since I was a teenager. I enjoyed ER, later on Grey’s Anatomy, and then the K-Dramas. We recently watched Dr. Romantic and it was mostly fun except when they show the doctors suturing wounds. My youngest kid asked me why they had to stitch the skin, and I told him that that is how wounds are healed.
It actually got me thinking about how God binds up our wounds. The Bible is consistent about God being Jehovah Rapha or our healer. God healed through Moses by using the bronze serpent. In the New Testament, Jesus healed the sick, the demon infested, the leper, and the lame.
But apart from physical healing, scripture tells us that God heals our emotions and brokenness. Our hearts break when we are disappointed, rejected, bereaved, and troubled. But this gaping wound in our heart is not something impossible for our true God to mend.
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” Psalm 147:3
Our Heavenly Father is a personal God, who looks into every detail of our lives. And if we let Him heal us, He definitely will. The Lord’s healing can come to us when we draw near Him. When we seek Him. When we come into His presence with all our brokenness lifted up to Him.
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18
And even if our brokenness was our fault due to our poor choices, the Lord assures us still that He will mend us if we will just let Him. That when we come to Him with a contrite and repentant heart, He guarantees cleansing and forgiveness, and that we can start anew. That we can begin or renew our relationship with Him, and again live a God-honouring life.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!””Revelation 21:4-5a
So how does this healing process actually take place when we cannot physically see God and He cannot physically touch us? Followers of Jesus who have a personal relationship with Him will have no qualms answering this question, but for those who have yet to FULLY surrender their lives to Jesus, well, here’s some food for thought:
1. When we love God above everything, we get to accept that God is the only constant in our life. We know that people, and even our loved ones may come and go in our lives. Our children will eventually leave our homes to live their lives, our spouses may suddenly decide to leave us, our parents will grow old and eventually pass on, our friends and relatives may move away to farther places, or we ourselves may have to move.
All of the above-mentioned situations are mostly beyond our control, but when we know that God can only be the one constant in our life, we can be happy even if our kids move out for college. We are not alone, we have God, and God is with them too. If our loved ones pass away, we will be sad, but since we have shared the gospel with them we can look forward to seeing them again in eternity. These things will be like a balm to our heart, that will ease our pain.
2. When we accept God’s sovereignty, we will see even the most heart wrenching things as part of God’s plan for us. “To prosper us, and not to harm us,” as Jeremiah 29:11 says. We will be comforted by God’s blueprint for our lives, as quoted in Romans 8:28 “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.”
3. As we spend more time with God through quiet time, worship, bible study, and church activities, our will would be aligned with His, and we will learn to accept and do things His way. In time, our mindset will be transformed. We will have acceptance, we will have peace. As they say, the abundant life God offers is not a life without problems, it is a life that is peaceful and joyful in spite of inevitable challenges and difficulties.
4. Lastly, when we surrender to God’s will by obeying His commands and following His teachings we get to avoid the further consequences of our sins that led to our broken hearts. If you are in a bad situation because of your poor choices, surrendering your life to Jesus will prevent you from messing up your life further. Yes there will still be natural consequences to face, but at least since now you are on God’s side, He will help you endure.
I am sure there are more ways our amazing Savior can bind up our broken hearts, but as we reflect on those, let us not forget to thank Jesus for each time He bent down to heal us. When we feel broken today, let us look back on these many moments, and know in our hearts, that just like before, He will come for us and heal us.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Psalm 34 to dig deeper on today’s topic.
Reflection Question: How many times has God healed your broken heart?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father, thank you for being my healer. I love you above all else and I hope that you will continue to love and offer healing in my times of need. May you use me as well in healing other people’s wounds. Amen.
