Are you wounded and desperately in need of the Healer’s touch today?
Last night I had a good ol cry.
It was imminent. I had been on the verge for months.
I could feel it welling up inside me- this building, aching, heaviness.
Though I didn’t know exactly why, or for what.
Ever been there??
My husband suggested that I spend some time alone with God.
Time alone? With a 3 month old?? How does that even work exactly?
But I knew he was right. It had been much too long.
So, upon his return home from work that day, I handed off the baby, and escaped to my closet.
This was nothing like the prayer closet portrayed in the movie, War Room, mind you, with prayer boards, comfy pillows, and scented candles.
No, this was just your average closet- filled with clothes, and shoes, and memorabilia from when my children were young.
But it would suffice.
I stepped inside the cold room, closed the door behind me, knelt down, and cried.
Not the silent, tears-streaming-sweetly-down-
Nope. This was a gut-wrenching, shoulders heaving, dam breaking, snot flying kind of cry.
And I didn’t even know why…at first.
But it was refreshing.
Cleansing.
Healing.
Life-giving.
There, in that place- face buried in the carpet– Jesus visited me.
Quietly, tenderly, sweetly.
The warmth of His presence enveloped that frigid space.
Not just of the room, but of my heart.
The place in me that had gone cold and felt dead inside.
I had recently gone through the fire, and was deeply wounded.
Betrayed, rejected, broken and scarred.
But I refused to let the enemy claim the victory.
And I thought I was doing all that I could to move forward.
I had done the hard, ongoing, repetitive work of forgiveness.
I was reading The Word regularly- not out of obligation- but as a lifeline.
And I was asking God to heal my wounds.
But in the solitude of my closet, Jesus revealed my error.
Although I had prayed for healing, I had simultaneously refused to let The Healer in.
I wonder if you can you relate?
Well, No longer!
I had a decision to make.
I could continue trying to bandage up my wounds, in my own power.
Or I could trust the One who had shown me my area of weakness, and rely on His strength to heal my wounded heart.
Lying prostrate across the closet floor- my heart laid bare before the Lord– I invited Jesus in.
And suddenly, a miraculous thing happened! The walls of my heart came tumbling down.
Walls I had unintentionally erected in order to protect myself from being hurt.
Walls I thought would keep me safe.
But the only thing these walls seemed to accomplish, was immense loneliness and a deep ache.
Friends, we were not meant to cover up our wounds.
We were not meant to put up walls.
When we close ourselves off from the world in order to protect ourselves from heartache, we not only close ourselves off to the ugly, messy, painful parts, but we close ourselves off to the beautiful, good, redeeming parts too!
This is no place to live.
It is impossible to effectively walk in freedom, when we are still walking wounded.
And how can we expect our wounds to heal without first exposing them to the light?
“Only when the lord Himself restores them can they ever be really happy again.” (Psalm 53:6)
I’m not suggesting we wear our heart on our sleeve for any Tom, Dick or Harry to see.
That would be foolishness.
But there is One whom we can trust with our heart.
There is One who has promised to lift the load and to carry our burdens.
Only when we allow the healing balm of our savior to penetrate the wounded parts of our life, are we ever truly free.
Are you ready to stop walking through life wounded?
Are you ready to ingest God’s healing Word?
Promise #1: He is With You.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
God is near, dear one. You do not suffer alone.
He sees you. He knows your heart. He feels your pain.
And He is as close to you as a prayer.
I don’t know about you, but I find great comfort in knowing that God is with me- right beside me. Right now.
Don’t you?
Promise #2: He Saves Your Tears
You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. (Psalm 56:8)
How comforting to know that God not only sees our tears, but He literally collects them in a bottle.
Each and every tear we shed, is important to Him. They matter.
There is not one that is lost. Or wasted.
How does this make you feel? It makes me feel treasured and loved by my heavenly Father, who cares enough to collect my tears in His bottle.
Who knows what He does with them? But I bet each one will be accounted for when we reach His pearly gates.
Promise #3: He Will Give You Rest.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)
When our heart is broken and our soul is parched, He humbly calls us to His side.
Are you stubbornly carrying a burden on your shoulders, when you should be giving it to God instead?
God does not wish for us to be heavy-laden.
He invites us to rest. Not an earthly kind of rest, that frequently leaves us wanting.
But a supernatural rest that is life-giving and refreshing.
When was the last time you entered into God’s rest?
Promise #4: You Will Not be Consumed
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. (Isaiah 43:2)
Although it is easy to feel like we are drowning, God promises that we will not be overwhelmed.
He is with us every step of the way- helping, protecting, guiding.
He will carefully bring us to safety.
Hardships will come and go, but if we keep our eyes on the Lord, we will not be consumed.
The waters will surely not overtake us.
Promise #5: God Will Give You Peace
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, so the waves of the sea were hushed. (Psalm 107:28-29)
Crying out to God in our trials, immediately ushers in His presence.
He is a God of action. He does not sit idly by.
This verse says that He caused the storm to be still so that the waves were hushed.
I long for the storm in my heart to be hushed too. What about you?
Thank you Jesus, for your peace.
Promise #6: He Will Bind Up Your Wounds
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.(Psalm 147:3)
What a relief to know that we will not feel like this forever!
Although it may feel like our soul’s groaning is unending, this too– yes, this too– shall pass.
The Lord is our healer. Jehovah Rapha is His name.
He will heal our brokenness, and bind up our wounds.
We will not remain broken forever. Hallelujah!
Promise #7: You Will Be Restored
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song. (Isaiah 51:3)
I love this promise of God!
The Lord not only comforts us in our groanings, but He promises to restore us too.
Our desert places- the barren, dry, lifeless places of our heart– shall be made lush and fruitful once again.
Joy and gladness will be ours.
Oh friends, don’t you long to be full of joy again?
The day is coming. Our sadness will be turned to joy yet!
Prayer~
Father God, thank you for never leaving our side. You promise to be with us and to carry us safely out of our troubles. It is comforting to know that you see us, you love us, you heal us. May we not ever try to cover up our wounds on our own. Might we be willing, instead, to come before you, and be stripped bare, so that the healing can ensue. We give you our hurts, Lord. You are trustworthy. Calm the raging in our heart, and offer us your peace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
**Need further help tearing down the walls around your heart? Consider visiting this page, where I give five biblical action steps to freedom, based on the powerful and timeless story of Jericho!**
And now for our featured post!
Meet Laura!
“A lot of us go through life, especially as a mom, feeling unappreciated and unseen. It’s just all too easy to focus on the work we do and the sacrifices we make. Sometimes I feel like remembering who I am is such a battle that I really have to fight to find myself.” ~Laura, Fantastically Four.
Who couldn’t use a little encouragement today?! Whether you are a mama or not, us women sure can go through seasons of life feeling unnoticed and underappreciated. It can be a very real battle to remember that we are seen and known by a caring God who loves us, and appreciates us- right where we’re at!
Laura does a wonderful job of reminding us of this life-giving truth in her latest post, which can be found here.
You’ll definitely want to hop on over and give it a read! I have no doubt that you’ll thoroughly enjoy Laura’s beautiful blog. And be sure to send her some love while you’re at it!
Thanks for sharing with us Laura! Feel free to grab your “featured” button here, if you so choose.
Let's link arms by linking up! Join us for some biblical encouragement today, and linkup YOUR inspiring post! #destinationInspiration #linkup #biblicalencouragement Share on X
What a beautiful post. I will be sharing over on Pinterest on my prayer board. You struck a chord in my heart, and the tears have formed. I am not sure why but I will spend some time trying to sort this out with God.
I am a master at doing all of the right things but continuing to cover it all up. Even in the midst of finishing up a series on grief, I see the places I keep hidden. They are many.
Maybe I just better head to my closet and do a little work. I have never tried that, and my closet does not look like the “war room” either.
I hope you will share your post with Grace & Truth Link- up where I am a co-host. I love this post.
Thank you for your beautiful post sharing now.
Thank you for your very sweet words, Maree. I appreciate you sharing your heart too. Sometimes, we just don’t know what is going on beneath the hidden layers, do we? The Lord is so good about bringing those necessary areas to light. I will be praying for you this week. <3
Thank you for stopping in. I will meet you at Grace & Truth on Friday!
I am so glad you met me over at Grace & Truth last Friday. Your post is my featured post for this week. On Friday, I will be featuring it on my Blog, FB, Instagram, and Pinterest. I know it will bless many.
Thank you so much, Maree! I am so honored.
Blessings, friend. ((hugs))
Thank you Maree! Such an honor! <3
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Lovely words and inspiring message, Rachel! I’m always on the lookout for posts on emotional wounds healed by God, so your post fits the bill perfectly! I’ll be pinning and tweeting today! Thanks, my friend!
Thank you Beth! I appreciate your support. <3
This is beautiful. A couple of weeks ago I had a similar moment where I wept with gut-wrenching sorrow until something broke through and I felt free. God is near to the brokenhearted.
Yes, He is! Isn’t it cleansing? Glad you broke free! 🙂
Its beautiful to know even our tears are meaningful to the Lord. A good cry before the Lord is healthy and refreshing. I once read a devotional that explained how tears had healing abilities.
Oh I bet they are even more healing than we realize! I know i always feel better afterwards. 😉
Beautiful. I will read this over and over many times, I am sure. Thank you for taking the time to put this into words <3
Thank you for that sweet encouragement, Jordan! Glad you visited. <3
Beautiful words and such truth. rest is best and blessed. every woman needs a secret place and a prayer closet. God bless your husband for seeing your need. I will be doing a post on tears in April.
Yes, it was kind of him. I’ll be interested in reading your words of wisdom Rebecca!
This is so beautiful Rachel! Our tears really are healing. I love that the Lord collects them! ❤
Me too Donna! Thanks for stopping by today. 🙂
Beautiful post filled with truth, Rachel. Pinned and tweeted.
Thank you Sarah. I appreciate the love! <3
Mmm… what wonderful promises from God! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Thanks for reading! 🙂
Rachel, this is so beautifully written. Thank you for sharing your heart. Sometimes, we harden our hearts towards God and not even realize it! Definitely something I’ll make an effort to be more aware of.
It’s true. So grateful He loves us enough to show us our folly. <3
My goodness, this is a great word! So many women could benefit from a safe place to show emotion–while remembering God’s truth. A prayer closet seems like just the right place to me!
Blessings, friend!
Thanks Ally. I don’t go there often, (because it’s a cold room), but I do love alone time with the Lord!
This is so good, Rachel. I think of Job when I think of restoration. He lost it all, and oh, how the Lord restored with a double portion. Beautiful words, friend. ((hug))
Job…there’s a billion lessons to be gleaned from his heart-wrenching story! Thanks Brenda. 🙂
Love those promises. I don’t know why it is so hard for us to admit we need help, even to God. To mourn and open ourselves to him for healing. But it is. But oh the sweetness that comes if we do. Your post a beautiful demonstration of that. Thanks. May we run to our savior so willingly.
Yes Theresa, may we run willingly to Him- the restorer of our hope! <3
This right here sis!!!! I could feel your heart in these words. I needed to hear tis sooo much, you just don’t even know. I am guilty of hiding my heart for protection, because I don’t want to get hurt again. The result is me becoming cold and hard towards everything and everyone. But when you listed the premisses of God…I can feel the tears forming in my eyes now. Thank you so much for your transparency!!!!Love this post and Love you too!
Thank you Gladys! Your words mean so much to me. I am guilty of this, much too often. I am certainly a work in progress. You said it- our hearts can become cold to everyone and everything around us if we’re not careful. I don’t want to live like that. I have to continuously remind myself that Jesus is safe. He loves me unconditionally, and wants the very best for me. He is the greatest friend of all!
Praying for you today, sweet friend. <3
This is so encouraging. Thank you for being so open and vulnerable.
Thank you. 🙂
Great post!
Sometimes we just need to get flat on our face and “ugly cry” out to the only one who can bind our wounds and heal our brokenness! Tweeted and pinned! <3
You’re exactly right, Misty! Thanks, friend. 🙂
This is just beautiful Whenever the tears are rolling, it brings me such comfort to know each one matters to our Lord. Grateful to have stopped here this afternoon!
Isn’t that such a beautiful truth?! I’m glad you stopped in today, Joanne. <3
Such a great post Rachel! Loved your honesty because I totally relate to your experience. I have felt so raw at times with wounds. God has used them to help me overcome in ways that I am grateful for but it is still a painful process. Your verses and promises were spot on👍 So very helpful and practical!!
Thanks Gretchen! God does not waste a thing. But you are right, it is often times a painful process. I appreciate your encouragement today! 🙂
Rachael! This was one of those things you hear that stops you in your tracks! Thank you, and blessings to you.
Thanks Boma. Blessings to you as well. :0)
Beautiful post! I visiting from the ‘Faith and Friends’ link-up and have linked up here too. I’ve also added you to my blogs link-up page. God bless!
Thanks Cathy! Happy to connect with you. 🙂
Man, I am right there with you this week. What a beautiful post. You have a gift!
Thank you. 🙂 Sorry to hear your week was rough. Praying for you, friend. <3
God will restore has been one of the greatest promises I have held on to all my life . Being hurt and betrayed by others can be so devastating .
I am so glad you wrote about this through the 7 promises each of us can hold on to
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