Healing Takes Time

Healing takes time. Usually much longer than we would prefer. While I believe in a God who is all powerful and can do whatever He wants… It seems though, that in this post-Eden and pre-NewHeavenAndEarth era, healing takes time. And scars from wounds in this lifetime may simply be a part of our life in this age. I’m becoming more OK with that idea. Some thoughts on that:

First, while there may be scars that last a lifetime, the good news is that our wounds do not always have to gaping. For seasons, they can necessarily dominate our daily life, but over time they can truly lose their power over us. The wounds are a part of our story, but not always debilitating. Second, this lifetime is not all there is. As followers of Jesus, we beleive that He will come again and make all things new, dry all tears, and turn our grieving to laughter. When we are in the depths of grieving losses, a day can feel like a year, and it can be challenging to see any light on the horizon. I affirm that it really can feel like we’re drowning. And yet, He is returning. We can anticipate that. And live now knowing that pain will not have the final word.

Next, I have read authors who have experienced sincere gratitude for trials in their life because of what God did in the midst of the process of their healing. I have honestly never thought that. Death, abuse, loss, and pain were not a part of Eden. They are the result of sin. Not how God wanted things to be. Jesus wept over Lazarus’ tomb. While our focus is grieving and living with hearts alive to Him, it seems that God though somehow does do some of his finest work in us in our seasons of anguish. He makes us more fully and honestly who he created us to be. We lose our coping mechanisms that box him out of the game, and we have the opportunity to be more acutely aware of our desperate need for Him. His Spirit is free to do His thing in us. And some mysterious and remarkable transformation occurs.

Finally, it seems that healing takes time whether I accept that fact or fight it. Joy inevitably shows up, in my life anyway, as a surprise, a gift, when I’m more engaged in loving others and yielding to His Spirit’s impulses in me, and I’m less consumed with when He’s going to finally “make my life look the way I want it to be.” I’m beginning to accept the inevitable scars of this lifetime, and anticipating Him turning them into beautiful things in the future.