Owning Our Broken Places
Always remember. To be healthy, balanced and sound, our Christian faith must ideally be walked out in community. If we allow it, our brokenness is identified and healed when we come alongside other broken people. God places us in a local church, where hopefully we receive instruction, prayer and courage to confront the broken places in our lives. Titus 2:12 says, "God's grace teaches us how to live soberly and righteously in this present world." Grace is our teacher and the Holy Spirit is faithful to point out our broken areas when we allow Him. Grace not only exposes our wounds but teaches us how to experience freedom. Then, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of grace, empowers us to destroy once and for all, the emotional residue of any strongholds that have held our soul captive. Praise His name! On the other hand, church cannot be seen as the sole opportunity for healing to happen. The Holy Spirit will meet us whenever, wherever surrender happens.
As much as I love the local church and support its mission, I also understand that my faith cannot be solely relegated to any given church service. I dare not put all my eggs in one basket, spiritually speaking, but remember that God can expose soul wounds during the week as well, as I read and study His Word. My faith is also premised on God's interventions in my life, Monday through Saturday. God can use anyone or any circumstance in my life to bring healing from soul wounds.
A college professor, who was molested at age twelve by her uncle, was driving from Springfield, Missouri to Cleveland, Ohio to witness a theater presentation of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Halfway, she reluctantly stopped at her uncle's home to drop off her mother. Upon her arrival, she learned that her uncle did not have long to live. She became emotionally distraught, but refused to offer forgiveness to the man who stole her innocence. Embarrassing memories pressed to the surface of her soul and once again the emotional pain overwhelmed her. To compound the pain, her perpetrator unfortunately demonstrated no remorse. He refused to acknowledge any wrongs done.
The instructor then made her way to Cleveland, where she unexpectedly received soul healing. As she witnessed Romeo poison himself and Juliet plunge a knife into her body, the Holy Spirit washed over her, taking away the pain of her past. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets became the catalyst to reveal her unforgiveness and long-standing hate for her uncle. God used Shakespeare's drama to bring healing to her tortured soul! You see, God is so wonderfully creative that He also operates outside of Sunday services to bring healing into our wounded souls. Regardless, we must take ownership of our pain, repent of any anger or hate toward any guilty parties, in order to receive God's healing touch. As illustrated in this story, it doesn't matter if those who have wounded us refuse to acknowledge any wrongdoing. What matters is that we extend forgiveness and receive God's mercy on our behalf. The woman's uncle never acknowledged his horrible sin, but the teacher was set free from her painful memories when she forgave him from her heart.