Walking Wounded Can Be Healed By The Healing Grace Of God

Buttons was our poodle, a delightful pet. One day behind our house she was hit by a car. She yelped in pain, hobbled back to our yard, and crawled under the back steps. When I reached to draw her out, she bit me. She was hurting so bad she couldn't help but snap at me. People carrying concealed pain are also like that. Try to help them and they may bite you.

Underneath the skin, we are people, but not always well. We may be fractured. The Bible reveals that we humans are spirit beings with a soul living in a body. We have eternal worth but are presently working out our salvation on the earth. As we live, grow, and endure life, most of us collect a few scars. External scars are visible after wounds heal. My wife has a neat new scar like a zipper on top of her knee after joint surgery. I'm grateful she's free of pain and doing so well. I'm amazed at what doctors can achieve now. Internal scars are not so obvious.

What about scars on our soul? Do you have any marks made from injuries due to rejection, shame, betrayal, abuse, or other kinds of suffering? Prejudice, poverty, imprisonment, or divorce can leave a person damaged, casualties of war, survivors of a wreck - with no evident scars. Given enough time, these scars become apparent to those in close relationships. These are internal scars from emotional injuries. They leave habitual patterns of wrong reactions, wrong thinking. We may blow up in anger or be gripped with fear for no rational reason.

I worked for decades as a pastor. In any church, there were always some people who were dysfunctional, damaged, not healed of hurts. "Be patient with me - God isn't finished with me yet!" As a teacher, I've seen school children carrying deep unhealed hurts. Visiting a jail with a chaplain, I saw inmates not yet free, not yet whole, but candidates for release.

I believe all of us are walking wounded, unless by the grace of God, we were spared or we have experienced the healing power of unconditional love.

Becoming whole as a human being is what we need. Wholeness is another way to describe what God can do for us and in us... if we give Him the chance; if we will walk out the process. It is not so much an end result as it is a journey. Becoming whole is produced by the redeeming power of God expressed in His love. This wellness can be attributed to Jesus Christ working in the human soul. It comes experientially by faith, through grace, by knowing God.

If you consider any well-balanced, confident, respectful, joyful human child, you can see an example of wholeness and happiness, albeit immature. Joy is a hallmark of an integrated personality; free to be real. In adults, this is a powerful and delightful character trait. Other people are drawn to be around such healthy personalities without knowing why.

These people lead by being themselves. They know what they want. They don't try to control other people. They carry a quality that's priceless - peace. That's a manifestation of being whole, having a completed personality, having trueness (integrity), and thus able to integrate with other similar people. Internal integrity enables us to become one or to be a covenant-keeping individual. Covenant-keeping is required to maintain a stable marriage, be a good neighbor, friend, or reliable employee, or be a servant-leader in business, church, or politics.

RON WOOD IS A WRITER AND MINISTER. CONTACT HIM AT [email protected] OR VISIT WWW.TOUCHEDBYGRACE.ORG. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

Religion on 01/16/2019