Time Heals No Wounds

There is a well-treasured saying that even Christians take comfort from during times of duress and tragedy, "Time heals all wounds." 

May I just tell you loudly - I OBJECT!! Time has no inherent healing power. Only God has healing power! I know women who are just as bitter and angry today as they were ten years ago. Time hasn't healed their souls. I know women who are playing the blame game louder today than they were 30 years ago. Time has not healed these exhausted, hoarse women. 

Only Jesus has healing power and so if you have a broken heart and long for comfort, then you must burrow into His presence where miracles happen not because of time, but because of Him. Are you allowing the nurturing closeness that He gives especially to the brokenhearted to heal your heart today? 

No one can mend a broken heart but the Lord. Other people's words will encourage you and bring a measure of healing but the ultimate healing is always from the Lord. Kind deeds and gestures may remove the sting from a broken heart, but nothing and no one other than the Lord can place that crowning healing touch on your life. He has the power, love and divine skill to actually cure you from the extraordinary pain that you are going through. 

God is able to restore your soul and perform a spiritual heart transplant if that is what it takes to move you into health and hope again. This seems impossible when you have a broken heart but it is not impossible to God! The will of God is always restoration and healing. 

We can easily understand the concept that the Holy Spirit is endeavoring to communicate through the psalmist in the phrase, " - and binds up their wounds." The word picture that is being painted through the Hebrew language is the beautiful illustration of a tailor gently mending and sewing together that which was torn apart. If you have a broken heart, friend, I know Someone who has the expert skills to easily and perfectly mend it. Not only is He able to repair your broken heart, but He has the desire to do it.

I refuse to sink

My heart is heavy as I cry out to The Lord, forgive me, for the fear that overtakes me.

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “FEAR NOT, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Of David. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.

I refuse to sink....

Sharon Sterling Allen

Brookhaven, MS · 

We talked about words in Sunday School yesterday...good words and bad words and how they affect you. Every book I've read recently has talked about letting go. I almost hyperventilate thinking about that. I cannot imagine letting go of my Haley. In my mind I know they don't mean forgetting your child, the words just seem harsh right now. Today I read a post on a grief blog that makes more sense to me. It talked about shifting. Yes, I am working hard on shifting. I am trying to shift to the good memories and "let go" of the memories of the last day. Our family is trying to shift from thinking about our loss to thinking of our blessings. We are shifting from thinking about what Haley didn't get to experience to how many lives she touched in her 21 years. Every day I hear a story of how Haley has touched somebody that she had never met. It makes you think about what your legacy will be. Will people remember you as being compassionate and friendly, always ready to listen as was Haley? What a learning experience this has been for me!