"Wounded Healer"

 The pain you feel, is very real,

It’s hard to let it go,

The burden strong, for oh so long,

But I want you to know,

That this heartbreak, it cannot take,

From you the love He’s shown,

When you look back, to this old track,

You’ll know that you have grown.

Through what you lost and what it cost,

Poor choices that you made,

But never fear, the Lord is near,

In fact He always stayed.

He brought you through, so you can do,

Before your time is spent,

His perfect will, He calls you still,

To a hurting world you’re sent.

The ones made strong, ‘cause they belong,

To the wounded healer tribe,

Their healing found, and now the sound,

Of love they can describe.

To that old soul, who can’t control,

The pain of loss he feels,

But comes to you, that’s what he’ll do,

Before old slew foot steals,

His sanity, he will, you see,

He steals, kills, and destroys,

Takes away, and makes us pay,

And ruins all our joys.

But love will win, time and again,

If only we receive,

The grace Christ bought, and always taught,

Lord, help us to believe.

And when we do, and pass on through,

What we thought was the end,

We boast in grace, His smiling face,

A new beginning then.

Look up, my friend, it’s only when,

You lay right down and die,

It’s then too late, but not your fate,

So, just get up and try,

To see yourself, not on some shelf,

Too late to be okay,

The Lord says yes, His love will bless,

And you can start today.

“He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God…” (Psalm 40:2, NLT)

Many of us are no strangers to despair. The hopelessness of depression and the feeling that it will never get better is the reason so many of us have had to use prescriptions to feel normal. It is also why suicide, even among young people, is on the rise. I have no judgment for the use of medications to help. It can all be part of what is needed to steady people, balance them chemically, and get the help they need. But, to find true mental and emotional health is a gift from God. His grace heals us, and then uses us to heal others. Every recovering addict knows it. Part of the recovery is to share the blessing of sobriety. Every Christian is called to share the blessing of God’s saving, healing grace. The deeper the need, the more powerful the grace, and the more life-changing the testimony. Don’t give up. God has not given up on you.

Lord, help us to find Your healing grace for every injury, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Brent Flory, used by permission. Thanks, Brent, and God bless you.