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Brokennes & the Great Physician/Wounded healer


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#1 Niles Comer

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Posted 24 August 2010 - 03:07 PM

Brokenness is a Gift

Published by Niles Comer

"Blessed are the cracked and broken, for it is they who let in the Light."

[Jesus] said, "Those who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I have been thinking a great deal about woundedness and brokenness, mine and others and the worlds. Many are broken and wounded these days: wounded from stupid choices, false hopes, the abuse of others and self, misdirected dreams and desires, and some just from the way life is: a beautiful world shattered and scarred.

And to paraphrase the poet W. H. Auden: those to whom evil is done, if healing does not occur, do evil in return. I know this truth for I have far too often let unacknowledged wounds scar others simply by my ignorance, and even sometimes maliciously.

When I get discouraged on my journey towards healing - which is truly my journey deeper into God - I look into the face of the Great Physician Who is also the Wounded Healer and I find the only hope I can. For Messiah was wounded for our transgressions and brokenness...and by His wounds all of us are healed.

Brokenness is a Gift.

And I speak from experience, but even more meaningful is the Truth that in God our wounds have meaning, real, lasting meaning. Every scar is a reminder of the wound that was there, but no longer is. For a scar by its very nature implies that some form of healing has occurred.

For in the Book of Isaiah (62:1 - 2) it says that Messiah was sent to bind up the brokenhearted - as in bind a wound with a salve and a bandage in order for healing to occur.

Jesus came as the ultimate "Salve."

A salve is a medicinal ointment for healing or relieving wounds...it is anything that soothes or relieves. There is so much talk these days of 'salvation' and needing salvation and it seems to have more to do with judgment instead of healing and forgiveness. When Jesus speaks of salvation He is speaking of more than just the forgiveness of sins (which thanks be to God He is!), He is also speaking of the healing balm that comes from the Great Physician.

I think it is high time for followers of Jesus to put the "salve" back into salvation.

Brokenness is a Gift...for hidden in every pain, every failure, and every wound is an opportunity to see the face of Christ, to find salvation, hope, and healing. Far too often I spend (or waste) too much time focusing on the wound and not the power of God to heal and the Gift of the very wound itself. For in my wounds, I know there is ample opportunity for me to grow. And all growth is painful.

When I was 13 years old I was about 5' 1" but by the time I was 15 I was 5'11" and at 18 I was over 6 feet tall. During that time I had what is called Osgood-Schlatters Disease. According to a sports medical dictionary Osgood Schlatters Disease "is a very common cause of knee pain in young athletes usually between the ages of 10 and 15 that occurs due to a period of rapid growth, combined with a high level of...activity."

I was giddy at going from one of the smallest boys in the 7th grade (and a slow point guard on the basketball team) to an above average young man (who could leap like a gazelle and became a forward on the basketball team).

Without that growth I would still be physically small, but all the pain I endured - endless nights of ice packs and aches, pains, bruises on my knees, and many tears - led me to become a man who is now 6' 2". My body was, in essence, being broken (down) in order for it to be built up.

Brokenness is a Gift.

I could write forever about my wounds, but this is not about my wounds, it is about the Wounded Healer who comes to us in the darkness of doubt, addiction, pain, suffering, alienation and isolation and shines the warmest of lights and gives the truest Balm I have ever seen, felt or experienced.

I have suffered the loss and death of mother, father, son, and friends. I have seen my choices wreak havoc on tender souls. I have seen my great wound - my addictions - lead me to do things that, without mincing words, are sheer evil.

But still I hold to the truth and hope that I am forgiven; that I have been cleansed and will continue to be cleansed; that I am a (God) Work-in-Progress. And much of this has come about because I have been a ragamuffin, broken man who has been given this Gift from a God Whose tenderness is relentless and Whose healing is faithful.

In my brokenness and in yours too I hope and pray, we can together love each other more deeply and especially love more the One Who understands every pain, every wound, and every fear and know that we can "approach the throne of Grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time (Hebrews 4:16)."

In Love,

Niles Comer

Originally posted on my blog at http://www.paintedso...ness-is-a-gift/
a comforting & disturbing Grace
http://lukefour18.wordpress.com

#2 Guest_Marvin Harrell_*

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Posted 29 August 2010 - 07:29 PM

I'm reminded of what our pastor said once when he was talking about our role as believers. "We are just one beggar showing another beggar where there is bread." So what I'm saying is it seems like we've got some bread here! Thanks for your kind reminder Niles.

As one who can echo all you have spoken about brokeness and Jesus' healing balm, I can only hope that many people will read this and be reminded that Jesus is the Balm of Gilead

#3 Dave Dagwell

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Posted 30 August 2010 - 04:43 AM

Thanks so much for your comments, Niles. I heard a 15 minute testimony in class yesterday from a believer who is undergoing shock treatments in a hospital setting which causes convulsions. It was communicated as the only solution to her depression. She mentioned that God was going through the procedure with her. Great credit was given to her husband for being there for her, but there was no mention of the healing balm that the Lord can supply. I could have left with the thought that God was either unwilling or unable to supply a healing touch, but the testimony did not mention anything about a call to Him for healing, only to a counselor and a psychiatrist. Isaiah 49:16

#4 Douglas Hautz

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Posted 07 September 2010 - 10:04 AM

I am overwhelmed by the honesty of your post. I am also disturbed by the apparent elusive solution to those who occupy pews in our overly cosumeristic churches. I share this journey with you. I abide in and have abiding in me this same salvation. Not a concept ... not a doctrine (although very very based in TRUTH)...but a Divine Presence. Jesus ...Alpha and Omega...my hope of Glory.

Salvation and healing in the same breath. Psalm 103:3 Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. Jeremiah 17:14 Heal, O LORD, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For You are my praise.


I have had the opportunity to visit a few churches outside of our tribe in the last three weeks. The experience has been compelling. I sat in our largest area church. The church boasts of a new building, a 4000+ attendance, a new satellite campus, and an Escalade for the pastor. I sat alone in the chair. Besides the preacher prompted "turn to your neighbor and say" techniques, nobody said a word to me. I noticed during a period in the sermon, which was not intended to be emotive, a lady in her forties, also sitting alone, dabbing her eye with a tissue. I had noticed that she was an insider ...one that knew the right moves, responses and expectations. I knew also that she was hurting and had no one that "incarnated this gospel message" to talk to about her hurt. Who will bring the healing? I know the theological answer. He can do anything. Yet doesn't this demand a new discipleship. One that is not based on passing a 13 week course but on bringing salvation and healing.

God bless this dialogue
Doug Hautz


When you and I stand together in the presence of God- knowing and seeing who He is and all that He has done in His sovereign power to move us from birth to "that Day"- we will pour out our thanks and praise to Him, joyfully doing our best to shake the rafters of heaven.