(BP) Wounds, be healed

Talked with a friend who suffered from a sudden great lost a while ago. She was sharing how there was a period she completely did not want to see anyone. And she’s still in the process of healing and recovering. My friend is a very faithful Christian still has been upholding her faith even in the midst of this trial.

I can’t even imagine the pain she went through.

After hearing her experience, I kept wondering about one thing, is it ever possible for people to get fully recovered after immense traumas in this life? We know that in heaven there will be no more tear, no more mournings and no more pain; and our life will be complete in His full Presence. But what about this life on earth? If “trauma” sounds too far away from many of us, let’s think of the unpleasant experiences we went through. Is there any childhood experience that still haunting us in ways we don’t even notice, like causing fear, anxiety and distress in circumstances that are not supposed to cause turmoil? Did we go through hurtful experience that trigger excessive distrust, fear of disappointment, self-suppression and defense mechanisms that continuously lingering in our heart?

And I wonder if the Israelis during the Babylonian exile would ask the question of whether there would still be possible to have hope, after the destroy of their temple and the lost of their home. But in the midst of all these overwhelming agitation, God gave the following promise:

“Thus says the Lord: ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. … Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. I will feast the soul of the priests with abundance, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness,’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:2-3, 13-14)

I believe this hope is not just a relic in the past, but it is meant to be fulfilled in our life, even amidst pain and anguish.

I am not trying to generalise or simplify the pain and turbulence people have, or attribute every brokenness to their own sin issues, indeed everyone’s struggle is unique and some of them are not quite because of their own fault. And it certainly takes time (and even years in some cases) to discover and to heal the wounds. Yet ultimately we have the hope that Jesus is the saviour who redeems us from sins, but also from the past deceptions and remnant of any agonies.

There may be times we wrestle with certain life issues and wounds like a caterpillar rolling on the ground trying hard to get rid of the ants on its body, and even wonder if this life could ever freely fly again. But may we never forget Jesus is the healer with the willingness and mightiness to bind up the brokenness and guide us spread our wings to soar with Him, to the promised land.

And ultimately, as we walk with Him in the healing process, the deepest reward is not even the healing per se, but the intimacy with God cultivated along the walk where the innermost of our soul encounter Him, truly and profoundly.