May 14

Surgery for Healing

Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds. — Hos 6:1 BSB

The Lord often wounds before He heals. This is the honest love of His heart and the skilled surgery of His hand. He bruises before He binds up, so the healing work is complete. The law comes before the gospel; a sense of our need comes before the solution. Are you feeling the weight of conviction, crushed by the Spirit? Have you been brought back under the fear of condemnation? This is a necessary step before the healing and comfort of the gospel can be applied.

Don’t despair, dear heart—come to the Lord with your open wounds, your bruises, and your hurts. He alone can heal, and He delights in doing so. It’s His purpose to bind up the brokenhearted, and He is gloriously skilled at it. Don’t delay—return to the Lord from whom you’ve wandered. Show Him your wounds and ask Him to finish His healing work. Will a surgeon make a cut and then leave his patient to bleed to death? Will the Lord tear down the old house and not rebuild a better one? Does God ever increase the misery of struggling souls without purpose? Never!