Only God Heals Wounds
We are wounded in life. But we try to heal ourselves. Only God is able to heal the incurable wounds of our soul.
In Daniel 9, when he read this passage, he would read this as the restoration of his political nation.
We cannot read it this way.
If we do, we will expect a political messiah to come rescue us through our nation.
This is what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day expected. And they missed the One who was to come and why he came.
Shoot. This is what the disciples expected too. But they were willing to have their mind renewed.
We must read this as the restoration of individuals into citizens of God’s Kingdom. The invisible Kingdom impacting the kingdoms of the world.
Jeremiah 30 and 31 are detailing the “Good Plans” God has for his people in Jeremiah 29.
Restoration Comes From Brokenness
God wants his people to feel the brokenness of being incurable. There is no medicine or cure for what his people are experiencing.
They have tried to find their cure in the created order. They went to find security in the nations around them. They tried to find security in their false prophets. They tried to find security in all the gods of the nations around them.
But God took away all the idols they tried to find life and security in. This is so that they would feel the weight of their brokenness and depend on him.
And so when Israel was overtaken and exiled, this is how they felt. God felt so far away from them. They thought God couldn’t or wouldn’t be with them in a foreign land.
Israel’s pain came from their refusal to Hear & Follow God. They kept walking into sin.
When you refuse to Hear & Follow Jesus and you continue to sin, you hurt yourself even more. You keep doing things that feel incurable. And your natural instinct is to double down and seek the created order more. You see life in your soul away from God.
You can be in church every week and still not be Hearing & Following Jesus. You can have leadership positions and staff positions. You can find your security in doing religious things instead of Hearing & Following Jesus.
Believing the right political candidate being voted in is putting your trust in the created order. You think the right human is your messiah.
Religion says you have to heal your own wounds. Playing religion in church is no different. You have to have the humility to admit you are broken and need a healing that is beyond what the created order can give.
For others, your hurt isn’t self-inflicted. It is others inflicted or inflicted by the natural course of a fallen world.
God wants everyone in brokenness to realize: “I alone will restore health to you and your wounds I will heal.”
Take God’s Word Deeper…
God will allow and even actively work towards us being wounded so we will realize our need for him to heal.
What wounds do you carry? How have you tried to heal your own wounds?
How can you bring them to God so he will heal?
How can yo lead your church to see God heals their wounds? Not religion. Not a political messiah. Not substances. Not relationships. God alone will restore health and heal wounds.