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It’s true that some women’s lives look perfect to us from a distance. But only from a distance.
Often we are tempted to compare ourselves with other women. We compare ourselves to their looks, their lives, their everything. We can diminish the sorrow of our own personal histories by knowing a friend with a much more painful history. Both are unwise things to do. Your life matters. Your joys, your sorrows matter.
We don’t revisit the wounds of our lives simply to feel sorry for ourselves, but for the purposes of God to heal us. Taking a closer look at our past isn’t meant to blame our parents or throw them under the bus. In fact, we all need to come to a place to offer forgiveness—with the help of Jesus—to those who have harmed us, whoever that may be. What we are pursuing is a deeper healing. In order to obtain that, we have to be honest.
God invites us to grieve our wounds and to receive his comfort and then his healing. But to be healed, we must once again let God tenderly open our wounds and expose them to his light, to his love, and to his truth.
When Jesus first entered the synagogue to begin his earthly mission, he opened the Holy Scriptures and read from the book of Isaiah. When he finished, he proclaimed that in that moment, the Scripture had been fulfilled. Jesus read Isaiah 61.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners…” (Isaiah 61:1, NIV)
The offer from our God is to heal our broken hearts and to set free the places that are held captive within us. All of us have broken hearts. All of us are held captive to varying degrees. In order to receive the healing that God has for us, we must bring him our wounded hearts.
Reflect
- How were these core questions answered when you were a little girl?
- Do you delight in me?
- Do you see me?
- Am I captivating?
- No one has a pain free life. We all live in a fallen world. What were the messages you received as a girl through your wounds?
- Is there a place in your heart or in your life that you would like Jesus to come for you? Why does that place need healing?
Scripture
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
