Recently, I read the book The Wounded Healer by Henri Nouwen. I was deeply moved by his words and began contemplating what it means to be a "wounded healer." Growing up, I believed that one was either the wounded or the healer, and that being both at the same time was contradictory and diminishing of the healing work of the Spirit and the calling to be a minister. How could someone be called to minister to the wounded, and those in the church needing spiritual guidance, be someone that the Holy Spirit has not fully and completely healed and restored?
The truth is that everyone is wounded in one way, shape or form. EVERYONE! Those wounds come a thousand different places: family, friends, strangers, teachers, co-workers, sexual assault, verbal abuse, spiritual manipulation, etc! While we all experience varying levels and quantities of suffering, we all experience it.
So how do we reconcile a hurting world with a "loving" God? By first correcting our understanding of suffering and God's relationship to humanity and our understanding of God's "will".
God does not love suffering.
Suffering is a result of sin.
God USES that suffering and people's sin to reveal Himself and to fight against the Darkness.
God leads us through processes of healing and restoration. Christ was the sacrifice for our sins and the gateway to our being restored to right standing with God! We have to be careful not to get fixated on an attribute of God and draw conclusions of what "should be", but instead realize that there is a mystery and a complexity to God that we can never understand. God loves us! He will end suffering, He will end pain, and He will completely heal, but He has chosen to use His creation and to reveal Himself in incredible ways while He does it! He uses the brokenness of His people and invites us to join Him in the restoration of the World by the power of His Spirit and the cleansing power of His blood! How beautiful is it that we are given this opportunity to walk along side our God and be apart of His work and participate in the Glory that is God's!
With that said, we need to understand that God created us to work in conjunction with others and in the context of community. We as the Church are called to work towards the restoration of the world and of the souls of humanity. We are called to work in the greatest restoration project of all time! We are to be healers in a world of hurt. It doesn't matter that you have been wounded because we all have! Our wounds enable us to connect with others and to share our experiences of God's grace and love.
So go and be a healer and don't fret about your imperfections. Work on your imperfections, but don't let them be a hindrance or an excuse to not act or to engage with those in need.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
The truth is that everyone is wounded in one way, shape or form. EVERYONE! Those wounds come a thousand different places: family, friends, strangers, teachers, co-workers, sexual assault, verbal abuse, spiritual manipulation, etc! While we all experience varying levels and quantities of suffering, we all experience it.
So how do we reconcile a hurting world with a "loving" God? By first correcting our understanding of suffering and God's relationship to humanity and our understanding of God's "will".
God does not love suffering.
Suffering is a result of sin.
God USES that suffering and people's sin to reveal Himself and to fight against the Darkness.
God leads us through processes of healing and restoration. Christ was the sacrifice for our sins and the gateway to our being restored to right standing with God! We have to be careful not to get fixated on an attribute of God and draw conclusions of what "should be", but instead realize that there is a mystery and a complexity to God that we can never understand. God loves us! He will end suffering, He will end pain, and He will completely heal, but He has chosen to use His creation and to reveal Himself in incredible ways while He does it! He uses the brokenness of His people and invites us to join Him in the restoration of the World by the power of His Spirit and the cleansing power of His blood! How beautiful is it that we are given this opportunity to walk along side our God and be apart of His work and participate in the Glory that is God's!
With that said, we need to understand that God created us to work in conjunction with others and in the context of community. We as the Church are called to work towards the restoration of the world and of the souls of humanity. We are called to work in the greatest restoration project of all time! We are to be healers in a world of hurt. It doesn't matter that you have been wounded because we all have! Our wounds enable us to connect with others and to share our experiences of God's grace and love.
So go and be a healer and don't fret about your imperfections. Work on your imperfections, but don't let them be a hindrance or an excuse to not act or to engage with those in need.
Grace and Peace,
Stephen
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