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 heal the wounds of the brokenhearted. Jesus spoke these words from Isaiah 61 as he began his ministry (Luke 4). Jesus came, and continues to come, inviting us to experience his presence, his comfort, his care, his healing—in the midst of the darkness, and in the places of our pain. Jesus knows what we have endured, he knows what we bear in our bodies and our souls. The Man of Sorrows sympathizes with us, weeps with us when we weep, and comforts us.
Our kind God has made provision for our healing and our restoration. It doesn’t happen overnight, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all, and it isn’t linear. But healing IS possible. And there are countless ways we are able to experience healing!
When we are able to consider our stories with sorrow and grief on behalf of our young self and what she endured, and when we allow tears to come for her and the sorrow that she didn’t get what she needed in those moments, this opens the door to healing, integration, and restoration.
Healing can come in the presence of an empathetic witness who offers safety, comfort, and good care. It can be incredibly healing when we hear and believe, “It’s not your fault.” The wounds that happened to you are not your fault.
All of this opens the door for healing. These are holy moments.
Sometimes it’s a song we hear in a new way that helps to unlock something deep within us. Played on repeat, it can literally help to rewire our brain! God created our neural pathways to reconnect and heal. Integration happens when we experience the coming together of the broken pieces that fragmented when we experienced trauma.
The Holy Spirit facilitates healing. And in these spaces, we always need and always have the Presence, the wisdom, the discernment and the help of the Holy Spirit, who is our most wonderful counselor. We need and we have the supernatural power and kindness of God that brings deep healing, restoration, transformation, and life to the full.
Healing happens when our truest self is being restored, welcomed, uncovered, unbound, let up for air, cared for, nourished, and set free!
There are layers to healing. Oftentimes we are brought back to a story where something else needs to be explored, named, grieved, and tended to. And a deeper level of healing can be experienced.
As you ponder all this with God today, ask Him:
- Father, what is one wounding moment you want to bring back to my memory and to heal? What was I feeling in that moment?(pain, shame, abandonment, fear…?)
- Jesus, would you show me how and where you were with me in that moment?
- Spirit, what did I need at that time and did not receive?
Scripture:
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 heal the wounds of/bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners/those who are bound, to comfort all who mourn, to care for the needs of those who grieve--to bestow on them a crown of beauty in the place of ashes, the oil of joy instead of tears, and the mantle of joyous praise instead of the spirit of heaviness/despair. Because of this, they will be known as/renamed Mighty Oaks of Righteousness, planted by Yahweh as a living display of his glory/splendor. - Isaiah 61 (compilation of versions)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Cor. 1:3-4
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Matt. 5:4
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19
