{Five Minute Friday | Heal}
It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try! Find out how here.
This week the prompt is {HEAL}.
Ready? GO.
When my little guy died at eight months old, I expected healing would take a very long time. After losing the next child (she was four days old), just fifteen months later, there were moments I didn't believe it possible to heal. Who am I kidding? I could barely get myself out of bed for a long while.
Healing is hard work, you know. It took some time for me to want to do it. It seemed easier to bandage my wounds and wear them as a badge. I believed I had earned the right to be angry and confused and wounded - indefinitely. And so, I refused to cooperate with God and let Him heal me. It didn't take long for my identity to become wrapped up in and defined by my wounds. Anger and confusion turned to resentment and bitterness. But my scars shouldn't define me. Only God's truth can accurately do that.
I'm so thankful for a God that pursues us. He heals and redeems.
Painful, difficult, dark moments and the wounds they leave behind can help shape us into something beautiful. But only when we come before God honestly, with our souls laid wide open, exposing all the wounded, broken spaces. Nothing is off limits. Nothing goes untouched. That's the hard part. Being honest and vulnerable, giving God unrestricted access to our broken hearts. But then, in the process, He reveals something to us about His character, about His unfailing love and faithfulness. And, you fall more deeply in love with Him and more convinced of His goodness. When God heals, He does so gently, yet with the strongest of hands, and He loves you lavishly in the process. Resting in His love eases the heavy work of healing. And, eventually, God becomes the only thing worth clinging to ever so tightly. And to do that, you're willing to let go of everything else that you've long held. It's a beautiful exchange.
May I encourage you today, sweet friends? He. Is. Good. And, He loves you so. When He asks you to let go of something, trust Him. He truly does know what He's doing.
STOP.
