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live your wounds

Yesterday I reminded us to pray for Israel.  I ended up being invited to an online prayer meeting for a church in Jerusalem.  It was eye opening and humbling, to say the least.


My heart goes out to those who are in the midst of the war, those who have lost so much and those who are struggling to keep their families safe.  I adjust in another direction and talk to a friend who is battling a severe health issue that they just can’t get healed from.  Then there is a conversation with a neighbor abut their health and daily struggle.


My heart goes out to these and so many more.  Those battling addiction … those without food or who are homeless … those in the middle of broken relationships and so many more.


Then I read the following devotion from Henri Nouwen.  It is a devotion I receive each day, and often they are right on.  Thus, that was the case today.


Read on.  Pray for those on your heart.  Pray for Israel.  Be a conduit of blessing in how God leads you.


The devotion is titled “Live Your Wounds” and speaks volumes to my heart.  Read on:


PSALM 34:18 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.


You have been wounded in many ways.  The more you open yourself to being healed, the more you will discover how deep your wounds are....  The great challenge is living your wounds through instead of thinking them through.  It is better to cry than to worry, better to feel your wounds deeply than to understand them, better to let them enter into your silence than to talk about them.  The choice you face constantly is whether you are taking your hurts to your head or to your heart.  In your head you can analyze them, find their causes and consequences, and coin words to speak and write about them.  But no final healing is likely to come from that source.  You need to let your wounds go down to your heart.  Then you can live through them and discover that they will not destroy you.  Your heart is greater than your wounds.


Power devotion.  Read it again if you need to.  Now pray through it and live your wounds.

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