Was 2016 a painful year for you? If it was, I want to encourage you: God loves you and wants to heal you, and mend your brokenness. He is your Comforter, the One who will lift up your head. If you want to experience full recovery from all that has hurt you this year, read on – I want to share something with you.
Healing in His Wings
There are times when we face unwanted situations in our lives. We lose a loved one. We fail in some commitments. We get fired from our jobs. Our company loses revenue and shuts down, without compensating us for our efforts. These and many other things hurt us and leave us anxious at times.
The Lord God, however, promised us in His goodness that those who fear Him would see and receive healing. He said in Malachi 4:2-3,
"But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture. On the day when I act, you will tread upon the wicked as if they were dust under your feet..."
God promises to heal you from all the pain you've been through. If you fear Him, you'll see healing shine on you like the bright morning sun.
Would you want to be healed and recover from the pain you've sustained this year? Here are some things you can do.
1. Don't Go Out Looking for Healing From a Source Other Than God
We all try to cope from pain, but many of us look for it in all the wrong sources. Some try to medicate their hurt with drugs. Some try to drown their sadness with alcohol. Some try to look for happiness in the company of wrong people. This doesn't work!
We have to realise that only God can heal us from our deep-seated hurt and pain. And He heals totally, without leaving any trace.
2. Come to Jesus
By Christ's stripes we are healed. Literally (see Isaiah 53). Christ suffered for our sakes, and with every painful thing that He went through, it was so that we would be forgiven by God, freed from sin and healed from its effects, so that we would become God's sons and daughters. Our total healing has been paid for by Christ, and no other.
Come to Jesus and be healed in God's love.
3. Look Forward to God's New Things
God said in Isaiah 43:18-19 that we should forget the former things because He is doing a new thing. While we probably still brood over the pain of January 2016, God is already setting up what's going to happen in January 2017 and 2018 (even 2999 if we ever reach that year).
Why look back to the pain when you can look forward to the healing and the exciting things God has prepared? Leave your pain and start praising God again!
"Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle's!" (Psalm 103:1-5)
