The writer of Proverbs tells us in Proverbs 15: 13 that
“A happy heart makes the face cheerful,
but heartache crushes the spirit.”
Are you carrying a crushed spirit today? Do you know a person who is experiencing heartache? Most of us could probably answer yes to at least one of these questions.
I receive a daily devotional entitled “God Issues” and it is written by Dr. James Denison, who is President for the Center for Informed Faith in Texas. In a recent essay he asked a question that has absolutely haunted me and I have pondered on it a great deal. Here is the question:
If you could heal one hurt in your life
this morning, what would it be?
I have tried to determine if there is a hurt in my life that I would heal if I could. Most assuredly, there have been hurts in my life. My Daddy dying of cancer, the regrets associated with marrying the wrong person and going through a divorce, my hideous lifestyle choices during my single years, things people have said that were hurtful and on and on.
The thing I am struggling with is, if I had the power, would I heal any of these hurts? I would love to have my Daddy back with us, but then that would take Him out of the presence of Jesus. I regret so many of the choices that I made in my earlier years, but God’s grace has provided forgiveness to me and He allows me to minister to others out of those poor choices. I think that those hurts are already healed because I choose to view them from an eternal perspective.
Consider 2 Corinthians 1: 3-5:
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 have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows.
I think this is where we must remember to ‘count it all joy’ and allow the comfort of Christ to flow through us and out to others!!
