Healing in his wings
May 29, 2009
I was reminded yesterday of the axiom, “Hurting people, hurt people.” My 12 year old son, Logan, came in the house on the last day of school fighting back tears. Apparently one of his closest friends said some very mean things to him. Logan’s heart was crushed! He was hurt and wounded deeply and now flowing out of his heart and mouth was more pain and hurt. Hurting people, hurt people. (I suspect that the friend who “hurt” my son is carrying around more pain and brokenness than his small body can contain.
You and I are no different. We too have been hurt, some of us very deeply. We’ve been betrayed, lied to, lied about, abandoned, abused, forgotten and forsaken. It is reality. The question is, “What do we do with that pain and brokenness? How do we love others, instead of using them to find our own healing?
There is a tremendous story told by both Luke and Matthew. Luke phrases it this way, “As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.”
A couple quick observations.
1. Like each of us, this woman new what it was like to suffer. She understands what it’s like to be betrayed, rejected, taken advantage of, ostracized and forgotten.
2. After 12 years of searching and hoping to find healing, she learned “no one could heal her.” Too often many of us look to the approval of others to find healing for our broken and bruised lives. We too know the disappointment left over from those failed attempts.
3. After pushing through the crowd, she touched the edge (kanaph) of Jesus cloak and found healing. Malachi 4:2 had told of the day when “the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (kanaph).” (In Hebrew the word for wings and edge is the same; kanaph.)
4. This woman believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah; that in himself there was healing power, she but needed to take hold of him.
We are all broken people, struggling to find peace and wholeness in our fractured world. We can continue to search for wholeness in the approval of others or we can push through with desperate hearts and take hold of Jesus and find healing in His wings.
May God grant all of us who are broken this day to press on to take hold of the One who is already holding onto us!
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Good post Jamie. Thanks for the reflection. Helping my kids endure and confront hurt healthily is a big challenge. That’s probably because I ‘m still figuring that out too.