A Wound Dresser of Souls...

I've been through times of deep brokenheartedness. And from those experiences, I have learned the meaning of the verse I post here. Jesus said in Isaiah that He came in part to heal the brokenhearted and to bind up their wounds. It is very true that we all have deep hurts sometimes that we have to look at honestly and then deal with a way that allows Jesus to heal them. I tell you truly, Jesus indeed does heal the brokenhearted. He does bind up their wounds.

Sometimes...oftentimes  He uses people to put salve on the wounds and to gently walk through tough times of grief and pain with a wounded person, all the while showing them His love but also His way of hope.

I wonder...do we truly grasp that part of the Matthew 28 admonition to GO includes also sharing Christ in His gentle compassion with others? Can we let Him grow us to the place where we are deeply grateful for grace, that reached down and took us in our sinfulness and honored our request for new beginnings, and apply that same grace to others?

I urge us to get to the place where we allow ourselves to weep over the brokenness that we see all around us...people afflicted by the sin-curse that is inevitable in all of our lives, but binds those with chains who have not yielded their lives to God.

How about the obese lady you see driving a scooter at Wal-Mart. Do you think snide thoughts like "Well! If she would eat right and not be so gluttonous, she would not be so overweight. She should do something about that! She should be walking instead of riding, it would help her weight problems!" Or has Jesus changed you to where you can look with eyes of compassion, and smile a genuine smile, and maybe even help her get a loaf of bread off the shelf too high for her to reach from her position? Can you strike up a conversation with her? You might find out that she has taken medication that helped her gain weight, or that she has been living in fear and depression and that food is her go-to emotion-dulling poison. And then you could follow Christ in helping her to find out more. Or if there is no opportunity to share with her, you could pray, believing that God will honor your  request that someone present the Gospel and Jesus' love to her.

What about the young girl who seems to struggle with so many things that to you seem unnecessary? Do you let Christ's compassion flow through you to feel sympathety towards her while asking the Lord how you can inspire her to love Jesus? Do you allow self-righteous thoughts to grow, "Ugh. If only she would just get over it!" or do you remember struggles you have had, and gratefully praise God for victory in your own life, and the privilege to walk alongside a struggling soul to hopefully spur them on to higher ground?

Or maybe you are the wife of a man who is feeling depressed, and struggles to get involved in family life like he has been called to right now. Could it be that God is calling you to lay aside your own hurt in this to reach out in love and compassion, lifting his spirits in this difficult time of his life? Which way will you take? Will you sympathize with him in the difficulties he faces that satan is using to try to discourage him today, or will you sulk and demand your 'rights' from him? Will you think dark thoughts about his seeming inability to rise above his broken heart at the moment, or will you soothe his spirit with warm smiles, neck rubs, and happy meal times? Will you pray for him, or will you be mad at him for his time of weakness?

Jesus came to heal the broken hearted and to bind up their wounds.

Maybe He would get farther in His work if each of us would heed the call to be a wound dresser of souls...and to be a laborer in the fields white unto harvest.

Couldn't we stop the foolish shopping, 

excessive living and turn our hearts to prayer, 

and our hands and feet to real, true Kingdom work???

I want to.

Will you join me?

Or maybe I'm joining you, since you may already 

be leagues ahead of me on the trail.

Love and blessings,

Marcia



"I would that I could be
a wound-dresser
of souls-
Reaching the aching heart,
The tortured mind,
Calming them as the night
calms the tired bodies
When she drops the mantle of sleep
Over the world.
As each cold, glittering star
So might I stand in mine,
But with the warmth of a smile
On my face,
and in my eyes
an image of the Soul Divine"
~author unknown