Scarred Hearts

I was in worship recently and I heard a line in a song that said, "God heals the broken hearted." I began to wonder about that. What does that look like? God heals the broken hearted. Is it like the healing when Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself 7 times and came out with brand new skin? Or when Jesus healed the blind people and they had perfect eyes and they could see again. I'm not sure that's the way God heals hearts. It is true that in Psalm 147 David writes, "God heals the broken heart and binds up their wounds." And it's in 51, David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart you will not despise." What does it look like to have God heal your broken heart? I don't think that means that he mends it. I think that he binds it up and he keeps it secure, and that terrible wound slowly transforms into a scar. Some of us have lived long enough that our hearts have been torn. Not surgically cut. The scar that remains is not pretty. It is rough and obvious. It lingers and aches, always. Don't get me wrong, the wound has healed but the pain and disfigurement remain. So why does a God who heals completely leave our scars. He could, like a skillful plastic surgeon, remove them but he doesn't. I think the simple answer is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4. And there Paul writes, "Blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of all mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our all our affliction, so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort, we ourselves are comforted by God. So he comforts us in our affliction. Not so that we'll be better. But so that we'll be able to comfort others. As I walk this life path, I encounter others with similar wounds but their wounds lie open and unbound. I know THAT wound and I know THAT pain and I can walk with THAT wounded heart into the presence of the one who can bind their wound. I freely give the comfort the the great wound binder gave me. Maybe my broken heart isn't a terrible thing. Maybe my wound is still too fresh and maybe I'm not ready to minister yet. But I'll tell you what I've learned in my life is that most of my ministry comes out of my dark times rather than my joyful times. Most of my ministry comes out of real life rather than a philosophy or a book. Most of the ministry that God sets before me is walking up to people who have similar wounds to mine and saying, "I know your darkness. But I also know the God who is light. And we can walk together back to that light." So run your finger lightly over your scar. Remember the pain. Remember the loss. Remember that God can use these to help heal others. Be a healer.