Christi Grimm
(First posted in February 2021)
Let’s face it: we have all been wounded. We have all been affected, in one way or another, by this fallen world, and sometimes it just hurts. We have experienced wounds in relationships, wounds within the family unit, wounds intentional and unintentional, big and small, when we were young, and when we are old.
So much woundedness and here we are, walking around, spilling the blood of those wounds on those we come into contact with. Yet, we don’t realize it; we don’t see the gaping holes that beg to be healed. We “do, do, do” in an effort to make the pain subside when Jesus is simply calling out for us to “heal, heal, heal.” We read more, study more, learn more, and serve more, in an unconscious effort to heal our places of pain- “doing” out of a place of lack instead of “spilling” out of a place of overflow.
And all the while Jesus waits.
He waits for us to stop “do, do, doing” and start “be, be, being” with Him. To abide, to sit, to enter into that Holy place with Him so that He can begin washing away the blood of our wounds. He gently purifies those places of pain, He applies His Healing ointment, and He covers it with His Holy Hand so that the wound truly heals. Jesus is not a band-aide God. He is an All-Consuming God who Heals our pain to the core. He does not simply brush over it telling you to “move on.” He sits with you in your woundedness while the healing- His Healing- takes place.
He beckons us to abide with Him in His Word. Abide: to stay, remain, wait, lodge, sojourn, or tarry. This is what He calls us to: abide in Him. He calls us to stillness and slowness with Him, not to do more for Him. It is in this abiding that His healing washes over us. As we sit with His Word, as we listen for His Voice, He calls us to enter in. To sit and tarry awhile. To talk to Him. To listen to Him.
We read a verse- a word or phrase stands out. We write it down, we highlight it, we underline it. We sit, we ask, we seek, we knock; He answers, He empathizes, He instructs, He counsels. The Great Counselor: The Holy Spirit. And in this one phrase, this one word, one verse, the Word has come alive. I have entered the Word and the Word has entered me. I have truly been with Jesus! I have not made “great progress” in the earthly sense with my Bible reading that day, after all, it was only one verse I read! However, I made tremendous strides in the spiritual sense. Deeper healing took place, my soul truly looks more like Jesus.
And the days add up. I arrive at my “daily counseling session” with The Great Counselor and the days turn to weeks, the weeks turn to months, and the months turn to years. He has fully healed countless wounds in my heart. How do I know? Because the emotion doesn’t overtake me when I think of those memories. I don’t have to push it down. I speak about the wound from a true sense of Victory and Wholeness! My wounds have become scars- my testimony- the Gospel lived out in my life. I know I am healed in an area because I am not ashamed to share- how could I be ashamed when I have truly encountered God?
The woman at the well (John 4) came to the well ashamed, yet she left healed, telling everyone she could about all the things Jesus told her. I am- you are- a type of “woman at the well.” Our wounds may be different, but they are wounds nonetheless. And just as Jesus waited at the well for her, He waits at our well of pain for us too. To pause, to listen, to stop drawing water that does not satisfy, and to drink from His well of Life and Healing.
Dear woman, abide with Him and allow Him to counsel and heal you. There is no deeper Well of Healing than the Well of Jesus’ touch.
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Christi is married to Darin and together they have 6 children. When she is not busy homeschooling, you can find her traveling, reading a good book, or eating Gluten Free Oreos! She and her husband began a ministry called Sixty-One Acres where they lead small women’s retreats focused on Hearing God’s Voice, Healing our hurts, Growing in Him, and Giving it away in leadership. You can find out more at www.sixtyoneacres.com and follow them on FB at Sixty-One Acres and IG @sixty_one_acres. |