A Heart Of Pain Or Healing

July 30 (Matthew 12:34)

For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  (ESV)

Much, if not most, of what many, if not all people do comes from pain.  Somewhere along the way we have received deep wounds to our hearts, and we have learned how to respond to diminish the pain.  We become the life of the party or we lash out to hurt others.  We control every aspect of our lives or we avoid all responsibility as we hide in addictions.  Much that is good and much that is bad stems from the damage to our hearts, our core selves.

Perhaps this is why God talks so much about the human heart.  Throughout the Bible God calls us to love Him with all our hearts.  He wants to create in us new hearts, ones that are healed from the wounds out of which we try to live life on our own terms.  It is why He is not interested in all the good things you may do if the reason for doing them is not pure.

This is not an excuse, of course, for sinful behavior, but can give us pause when others are acting in ways we do not like.  They may well be acting from a place of deep pain.  At the same time, we must look at our own hearts to see how much of what we do on a daily basis stems from brokenness or from healing.  If the essence of who you are is proceeding from a response to pain, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the wounds that caused it and then take them to Jesus.  He knows what it is like to be wounded, both physically and emotionally, and He can make you whole again.

Jesus, I have learned so many ways for dealing with the pain in my life, yet I am tired of seeking and taking my own medication.  Show me the deep wounds of my heart, Lord, that I may present them to You for healing and restoration.  Restore my heart and fill it with Your love and grace so that all I do and say comes from You and not my pain.  Amen.

Copyright © 2017 by Steven R. Perkins

Pain And Faithfulness

August 7 (Lamentations 3:21-23)

But this I call to mind,    

     and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;    

     his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;    

     great is your faithfulness.  (ESV)

For twenty verses the writer of Lamentations has gone on and on about suffering.  He speaks of broken bones, wasted flesh, and pain like arrows driven into his kidneys.  There are twenty verses of some of the most graphic pain descriptions.  And then come these verses.

Do you have twenty verses of pain?  Of course you do, which is why these verses feel like cool, soothing medicine.  It is why these verses became the basis for one of the great hymns, “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”  Suffering is real, and it is a false religion or false philosophy that pretends otherwise.  Emotional and physical pain will be part of the world until Christ returns, “but this I call to mind….”

Can you call to mind examples of His love, not just in Scripture, but in your own life?  Can you call to mind examples of His mercy?  The incredible, wonderful, amazing thing is that even if you recall acts of God’s love and mercy toward you from yesterday, you will, for a fact, experience new ones today.

Father, great is Your faithfulness indeed.  Even when my faithfulness to You is weak or lacking, Your faithfulness and goodness toward me never cease.  Help me to focus more on the verses of Your grace than the verses of my pain.  In the name of Jesus, in Whom I live and move and have my being, amen.

Copyright © 2016 by Steven R. Perkins