if you find the wounded word what you will do
Answers
Perhaps you wonder if healing is really possible. Whether it’s physical, emotional, or spiritual healing, we’re all desperately searching for relief.
On November 5, 2006, a drunk driver traveling more than eighty miles per hour struck our van head-on. In an instant, my husband, my two children, and I were physically broken, crushed in countless ways. My daughter, Jen, wasn’t expected to live through the night because of traumatic brain injuries and multiple skull fractures. She remained in a coma for five weeks, and months passed before we were all reunited. Today our lives don’t look like they once did, and they never will.
In the years following our car accident, the one thing that would bring me comfort was to think about how God allowed his innocent Son to suffer and die on the cross for me. As I begged God for healing, I started listening very carefully to the words Jesus spoke when He was in those final hours of suffering.
Even though the cross is a one-time act of redemption, Jesus’s final words have also become a crucial part of my daily healing.
Jesus Final Words - A Unique Healing Prescription
1. Ask God Why
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34).
In his deity, Jesus knew the heart and mind of God. He didn’t need to ask why. But Jesus was also a man. He felt pain just as we do. It’s comforting to know that when He hurt the most, He had to ask “why?”
By asking why, Jesus gave us permission to bring our tough questions to God. Because He asked why, we don’t need to be ashamed of our own doubts and fears. God isn’t angered because we need more answers. In fact, our tough questions may be the very thing that draws us closer to Him.
If you were standing before God right now, what would you ask Him?
Satan controls what we keep hidden in darkness, but when we bring our wounds into the light, Satan no longer has power over them. Jesus is the light! When we acknowledge our pain, He begins to heal us. Go ahead, ask Him!
2. Choose Forgiveness
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
While they were still driving the nails into His hands, Jesus said out loud, “Father, forgive them.” He refused to let any bitterness take root. I suspect He was teaching us that the sooner we forgive, the better.
Maybe someone who was supposed to protect you and keep you safe hurt you. Abused you. Destroyed your security. You might be thinking, It’s impossible to forgive. You’re right! I don’t think we can forgive in our own strength. We need to ask God our Father to help us.
My daughter, Jen, says it like this: “Take people off your hook and put them on God’s hook. Then you will be free!”
3. Share the Gospel
“Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43).
One of the criminals hanging next to Jesus on the cross understood that his sin was to blame for his problems and Jesus was his only hope. He says, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus replies, I will do more than remember you, I will be with you.
While He was dying, Jesus was intentional about saving others. He modeled for us what it is to care for others in the midst of our own suffering.
Your pain gives you the right to be heard. When you share the gospel, your pain has a purpose. What if your temporary earthly pain could change someone else’s heavenly reality forever?
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