Healing and binding up
According to Psalm 147:3, the Lord “heals the brokenhearted . . .”
That’s what I want. When my heart is broken, when I’m suffering from the pains of this life, I want to be healed. Instantly.
“. . . and binds up their wounds.”
But that’s not what usually happens. Most of the time, God begins the healing process by binding up my wounds. He cleanses the area, applies medication, and covers it to protect it from infection. But the cleansing and the medication can sting. The injury can still ache. And a complete recovery can take days or weeks or even months.
How thankful am I for that binding up? Am I on my knees in gratitude for the cleansing, the medication, and the protection? Or do I resent the sting, pick at the scab, and hold back my praise until I’m completely whole again?
The world tells me I don’t have to go through a long messy process to feel better. I can distract myself through mindless entertainment or busyness or shopping. I can dull the pain with physical pleasure or alcohol or drugs.
But that would be providing a bandaid and temporary painkiller where a more thorough treatment is needed. It would be letting the numbed and hidden wound fester and deepen, rather than healing it.
Next steps
After the doctor has done all he can to treat my illness or injury, my body goes to work to continue the process. In the same way, when I’m emotionally and spiritually bruised and broken and bleeding there are things I can do to contribute to my own recovery.
Trust God. Rest in His everlasting arms. (Deuteronomy 33:27)
Worship Him. Both privately and in my church.
Read the Bible, especially the books that soothe my soul.
Pray. Pour out my heavy heart to Him (Psalm 62:8). But also counteract my toxic self-centeredness by expressing my concern for others and my gratitude and praise to God.
Seek fellowship with my sisters and brothers in Christ for their support. And for their teaching and correction.
Confess and turn from my sin. Obey God’s commands.
He’s the One who enables me to do all this. Just as He created my body to be capable of fighting off infection and recovering from injuries, His Holy Spirit provides me with access to the desire and the wisdom and the self-control to foster my emotional and spiritual well-being.
How thankful am I for that desire and wisdom and self-control? How often do I fight it instead?
It can be so hard to trust Him. And to find time to worship and read and pray and seek out other Christians. It’s hard to overcome my pride enough to confess my sin. And to turn away from it and obey His commands. I want the blessing of wholeness without the effort that it takes to get there. Even when God offers me all I need to succeed.
A slow process
Isaiah speaks of binding up the brokenhearted (61:1), not of immediate wholeness. And he’s talking about Jesus (Luke 4:16-21). I always think of Jesus’ earthly ministry as one of instant, miraculous physical healings. No binding up. Just a few words and touches, and everything is fine again. That’s what usually happened.
But maybe that physical healing was just the binding up of wounds, not a complete cure. Maybe the real healing was spiritual, a slower process occurring over time.
Jesus’ miracles were signs intended as a witness to help people see that He’s the Son of God. The miracles performed by the early Christians were given to support their message. Since that time, instant cures have become rarer. The slow process is much more common now. How thankful am I for that slow process?
I can look back and see how God has grown me through gradual healing, and praise Him after the fact. But do I thank Him as it’s occurring, knowing that the testing of my faith develops perseverance, so that I will become mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:2-4)? Am I ever thankful for a process that will lead to my not lacking anything at all? Why not?
Brokenness and binding up
Sometimes our brokenness is a direct result of our sin. Psalm 51 was written by David after the prophet Nathan confronted him with seducing Bathsheba and having her husband, Uriah, killed (2 Samuel 12). David says that a broken spirit (in this case, broken by the conviction of sin) is a sacrifice to God. Sacrificing hurts. Facing our brokenness and offering it to God hurts.
Amazingly, though, even after we’ve committed loathsome acts of pride and greed and lust in the presence of our holy God, He binds up our brokenness when we simply repent. And that binding up, that forgiveness, comes quickly. David says to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Immediately, Nathan replies, “The Lord has taken away your sin.”
But it’s only a binding up, not a complete cure. David suffers the consequences of his rebellion when the child that he and Bathsheba conceived dies several days later.
God uses our brokenness over sin, including the physical results, to draw us back to Him. How thankful am I for that brokenness? Without it, I’d continue on my merry way, ignoring and defying Him. I’d reach the end of my life having missed the greatest blessings that come from walking with Him in increasing intimacy.
Dear God of grace and mercy, help me to be more thankful for Your hand in my life, knowing that Your binding up of my wounds is the best means of obtaining the deepest kind of healing. Even though the treatment often stings. Even though the pain lingers for a while. And even though it’s just the beginning of my cure.
