About midway through Leviticus, I start to sag when I come to the chapters on defiling skin diseases. They are not my favorites in the Bible, but still they are in there for a reason, so I pray when my daily reading includes them, “Lord, what message can I draw from these words?”
This
time around, the Lord reminded me of an injury I had a few years ago. While
trying to rescue a baby deer who was trapped, a wire from a chain link fence
punctured my forearm. I’d had a tetanus shot, so although the wound was deep, I
really didn’t think anything about it.
But
the thing is, the wound never healed. I wound up seeing a dermatologist who
said sometimes when there is a trauma to the skin, a malignancy can set up.
Who
knew?
Sure
enough, when the pathology came back, it was indeed pre-cancerous, and the area
had to be excised.
When
our heart is deeply wounded or maybe even grazed, the same thing can happen. A
kind of cancer can set up in that wound which often looks like bitterness, unforgiveness,
or anger. And maybe all three. If allowed to fester, these things will keep the
wound from healing as it should.
Taking
our wounded hearts to Jesus is the best way to keep those things from coming in
and taking root. Confessing bitterness, unforgiveness, and anger and allowing
the Lord to pour his healing balm of forgiveness over us enables the injury to
be restored. And who wants to live with these things anyway? These cancers tend
to invade every aspect of our lives. I know it can seem an injustice that on
top of being the one hurt by someone else’s actions or some unimaginable circumstance,
we’d also be a target of these cancerous attitudes, but the enemy of our souls
is always ready to pounce and make a tough situation worse. Best to keep our
hearts clear.
Hebrews
12:15 reads, “See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no
bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” It is the grace of God,
his unmerited favor that allows our healing and we don’t want to miss it.
So,
back to Leviticus. On top of many pages
in this book, I have the words, “Thank you, Jesus,” written on them because
they often make me so thankful for what Jesus has done for me. Today would be
one of those times.
It’s
never too late to deal with a wound that won’t heal, even if it’s been years.
Today could be a pivotal day for someone reading this who is weary of their circumstance.
Let’s unfurl our fingers and let go of all that would hold us back from
receiving the great Physician’s powerful touch.