Healing Our Hearts

I am a Registered Nurse and I work at a Wound Care Center. We take care of chronic wounds.  You might ask, what is a chronic wound?  It is a wound that has not shown the ability to heal over a two week period or longer. Some people come to us who have had a wound present for months, or even years. The longer the wound has been present the longer it takes to heal. Usually the body has accepted the wound as normal and the healing process has shut down. These wounds may not be very large, but they cause daily discomfort and disrupt the patient’s life.

The first thing the doctor will do to stimulate healing is to debride the wound, removing the dead tissue. The patient’s body realizes something has changed and that signals the release of an entire cascade of healing properties. Many people ask, “Can’t you just sew it up?” The answer is no. The tissues in a chronic wound will not “knit” together as they do when the wound is only hours old.  When a wound has been open for days, weeks or months it must heal from the inside out. The body will generate new tissue in the base and once that tissue has built up to skin level, the top layer of skin will grow across and close the wound. This process will only occur with adequate blood flow, absence of infection and the proper bandage.

“O Lord my God, I called to you for help and you healed me.” – Psalm 30:2

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” – Psalm 147:3

Spiritually, many of us walk around with chronic wounds. We have hurts and disappointments that plague us daily.  Although well intentioned, our “home remedies” can’t provide the desired healing.  For example, we may decide to ignore the wound and assume it will go away.  The spiritual wound becomes deeper and disrupts our daily walk with God and others.

Obedience to the scripture, “Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26), is much like going to the ER and getting stitches right away for quick healing.  When we don’t obey the scriptures, we allow our hearts to become infected with bitterness, envy, anger or jealousy.  Our hearts become similar to a chronic wound.  The only way we will heal is to ask for God’s help. We must allow God to cut away all the bitterness and resentment that has become attached to our heart. God will heal us from the inside out.  Just as a wound must have good blood flow to have a chance to heal, we must give ourselves to prayer to overcome sin’s deceitfulness. We do not expect a chronic wound to heal when it is simply left open to air. Likewise, we can’t expect our heart to heal if we leave it unprotected and open to Satan’s attacks. God’s holy word is the best protective bandage to be applied to our heart.

Is it time to heal a chronic wound in your heart? Make an appointment with the “Great Physician”.

Dear Father, come into our hearts and heal our brokenness.  We surrender ourselves to you and we place our hearts before you to cut away all those things that do not reflect your Spirit. We want to experience being alive in Christ and know the fullness of your love.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Terry Smith

Stephenville, Texas