HURTING SONS AND DAUGHTERS

 

Hurting Sons and Daughters

Verse for Today: Jeremiah 8:21

For the hurt (crush) of the daughter of my people I am hurt (crushed). I am mourning; astonishment (horror) has taken hold of me.

Millions of sons and daughters of all age groups are leading a hurtful and grievous life today. This is true in all times and in all dispensations. We see them in the Old Testament times, starting with Abel and then Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. We see them among Israelites who lived in Egypt and all through their sojourn in the desert for 40 years. It continued in the land of Canaan. We find in Dena a hurting daughter of Jacob. Rachel and Hannah had their own hurts of childlessness. Leah had her grief-stricken life even as the wife of Jacob. Tamar the wife of Judah’s elder son had her share of tears in life as a young widow. Naomi was a daughter of tears when she lost her husband, two sons and a departing daughter-in-law Orpah. Ruth and Orpah had their share of grief as young widows. Tamar, the daughter of King David was full of tears, pain and hurt in life as she was brutally violated by her own brother.

We find a lot of women on the pages of the New Testament who were hurting in life. They include Mary the mother of Jesus, Mary and Martha of Bethany, the Phoenician widow, the widow of Nain and others. Mary Magdalene, Salome and other women were deeply painful and frustrated as they missed seeing the body of the Lord Jesus in the tomb.

Some of our hurts and wounds are self-inflicted. We hurt ourselves physically, emotionally and socially by lamenting on our lost opportunities and failures through our thoughtlessness and carelessness. But wounds are also caused by our kith and kin and friends through jealousy and gossip about us. Some fight us through unfair competition and wrong comparisons. Some others quarrel with us because of their egotism and false sense of satisfaction. Sometimes we plunge ourselves into frustration, hopelessness and desperation because of our hurtful circumstances and situations. We often face social trauma through isolation, loneliness and inferiority complex. At other times, we get hurt through unfair treatment, partiality and misunderstanding, misrepresentation and misinterpretation created by those who know us well including family members, colleagues and classmates. Overindulging in such hurts and emotional trauma cause psychological aberrations in us including insomnia, loss of appetite and affected efficiency. These often negatively influence our spiritual joy and prayer life. Often our life leads to spiritual and emotional dullness and hopelessness.

Sadly our emotional, social and physical wounds and hurts remain unresolved because of failures in coping with it. We tend not to use spiritual tools like prayer, meditation on the Word of God and fellowship.

Christians are admonished by the Word of God to resolve their hurts and wounds by going to the Divine Healer. We are also instructed to help others cope with such aberrations. Often our best spiritual friends don’t get involved with our wounds and hurts largely because of ignorance, lack of spiritual insight and poor concern for such persons. Thus many spiritual sons and daughters remain emotionally, physically and spiritually ill and continue to be in this doldrums of apathy, insensitivity and spiritual dullness and backsliding for considerable time.  There seems to be very little concern or effort by others around to help them to come out of such situations. Loneliness, isolation and resentment by dearest and nearest lead them to develop serious spiritual and emotional trauma. 

Thus we find a crying and weeping prophet Jeremiah because of the increased emotional traps caused by others, our own self and through circumstances manipulated by the enemy of our souls. The weeping prophet recognizes that there is a divine cure for such spiritual trauma. He is familiar with the Great Physician available to handle the emotional and spiritual traps that are faced by the sons and daughters. But he laments that there doesn’t seem to be enough support for such wounded and hurtful people to be taken to the Great Physician with His panacea to heal the emotional sickness of these highly needy people. This lack of concern and burden make the prophet mourn and in deep astonishment. It also makes him felt hurtful enough to lament, mourn and weep.

But through Prophet Jeremiah the weeping prophet, the Lord spoke to His people that He is still the Great Physician who uses the Balm of Gilead to wipe away the tears of His children. We need to go to Him and take our hurting fellow humans with us. He will use His nail-pierced hands to wipe their tears, and heal their hurts and give them a new lease in life. There’s no shadow of turning with Him (Lamentations 3:22-26). He will apply the Balm of Gilead, the panacea to heal the wounds and the hurts and to take away all their infirmities.

We must understand that this is the healing ministry entrusted with us. It comes through the Word of God which heals all our ailments. It has to be used at the right time to impart complete healing.

Psalms 107:20 – He sent His Word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction.

Thought for Today

It is our responsibility to identify the emotional and physical infirmities of the people around and take them to the Great Physician for total healing through the Balm of Gilead.

Prayer for Today

“O Lord! Please pour Your Balm on our wounds and heal our spiritual and emotional sicknesses for our happiness and for Your glory. Amen!”