Wounding and Healing

Isaiah 19-21; Psalm 59; Proverbs 23:13-14

 

I can’t think of many situations in which a loving human would deliberately wound a loved one enough that he/she would need healing. Obviously, there are disciplinary circumstances where parents bring pain to their children in one or another, but they don’t hurt their kids in a way that will require healing.

 

God does.

 

In Isaiah 19, God promises to hurt the Egyptians. And He’s going to hurt them pretty seriously. They will need healed. Who will heal them? God. After describing His plans against the Egyptians, God says through His prophet Isaiah:

 

In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border. It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them. So the LORD will make himself known to the Egyptians, and in that day they will acknowledge the LORD. They will worship with sacrifices and grain offerings; they will make vows to the LORD and keep them. The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. – Isaiah 19:19-22

 

Sometimes we begin to think we’re wise, powerful and invincible. We don’t believe anyone can touch us, and we forget that we need God because we don’t feel needy or weak. The Egyptians seem to have forgotten that they needed God. They thought their idols were powerful enough to take care of them, and they neglected God’s appeals to them to put their trust in Him instead.

 

So God said He’d send other, stronger humans to Egypt to show them that they weren’t as tough and powerful as they thought, that their gods weren’t capable of saving them. And then God would save them Himself. He would wound them, but He would heal them when they finally called on God to save them.

 

Do you feel pretty good about yourself? Do you feel like you don’t need God’s help very often, or perhaps at all? Beware. You are weaker than you pretend to be, and God doesn’t have to look very far to find someone to teach you how much you need Him.

 

Father, may I not need to learn this lesson the hard way. May I remember that I need You. May I be aware of my weaknesses, my temptations, my sins. May I call on Your name! You are the only God, the only Lord, the only Savior who can save completely! I need You.