God is about healing and restoration. He makes a perfect world that humans screw up, and He immediately goes about the work of bringing about healing. The Old Testament tells the story of God's plan for the covenant that would culminate in the the death and resurrection of Jesus. The end of the Bible speaks of the future, when all things will be restored to what God originally intended. God is a god of healing and restoration.
The wounds you have are not who God intended you to be. He doesn't erase wounds from our past, but if we'll let Him, He will bring healing so they don't do any more harm. God loves to take wounds and turn them into scars because scars mean healing has taken place, and scars tell a great story (usually).
My own journey of healing has taught me a few things, and just like with my wounds, I want to share the lessons I've learned.
Healing doesn't happen by accident.
If we are going to find healing for our wounds, it has to be done intentionally. We have to begin by acknowledging that we have wounds, stop ignoring them hoping they'll go away because they won't, my doctor told me once, "Bad things don't go away." The only way to obtain healing is to go after it. For me, I intentionally revisited places where I had been wounded, and in doing this I discovered the real wound that needed to be healed. I had to write notes, make phone calls, I had to reach out to people and get vulnerable. Healing takes effort, and if we would experience healing, we must be willing to chase it.
Healing is accomplished by God.
We have to be intentional about pursuing healing, but we have to know that God is the one who brings healing. Genuine healing is not something that a counselor, a pastor, or a mentor can bring about (I'm not saying don't utilize these resources, I've personally used all three, sometimes all at the same time), but I am saying that these are all just people, and each of them has their own wounds. Healing is only found in God. He alone can deal with years, maybe decades, of ignored and infected pain, and bring about healing. If we would deal with our wounds, we must draw near to God.
Healing reveals who you were made to be.
It is through my own journey of healing that God has taught me who I am and why I'm here. It is through my healing that God has given me an identity and pointed me towards my destiny. The experiences of pain that I have had have served to show me what I care most about, the things that I'm passionate about, and they guide me to try and make a difference. Before I had encountered the healing power of God I feel like I just wandered aimlessly, hoping my wounds wouldn't be exposed, but once God had gone to work, I began to focus on what healing enabled me to do.
Healing gives credibility.
When a wound is healed it leaves a scar, and scars tell a story. Healing gives credibility because it shows you've been through some junk, maybe junk of your own causation but junk none the less. Scars show that you've not only been wounded, but that you've recovered, and the story of your scars is one that can impact lives. You can tell where you've been, tell what God did, and tell how you're different, and the scars prove your story is true.
Healing sets you free.
Wounds limit you. I've had physical wounds that kept me from competing while I was wrestling, and I've had spiritual wounds that have kept me from being fully effective in life. Wounds hold us back, but healing sets us free. When we experience healing we're free to live lives of passion. When you don't have to conceal a wound, your hands are free to do something great.
In John 5, Jesus asks a lame man who has spent every day for nearly four decades laying by the pool of Bethesda hoping for a miracle, "Do you wish to get well?" The question has an obvious answer, but Jesus gives people dignity, never forcing anything on them. Healing is offered, healing is possible, but healing must be accepted. Jesus came that we might have life, and life abundantly, life as God intended for it to be lived in the garden. That life cannot be lived by the walking wounded. If we would have life as God intended, we must enter it with scars, beautiful, story filled scars. Healing is possible, and healing will transform your life.
We all get wounded in this world, but we don't have to stay wounded. God offers healing, my own life testifies to this. Don't spend another day ignoring your wounds, allow God to begin to work, and see what His healing can do.
Fight the lion, 1 Peter 5.1-11
TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!
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