When I (Josh) was a teenager, I had a job working on a water truck during a drought in central California. One day I managed to cut the palm of my hand rather severely on one of the hoses I was working with. My boss took me home so that my mom could take me to the ER. My mom was freaking out but by the time I got home I had finally got the bleeding to stop. I thought we could just stick a band aid on it and I would be fine. She insisted we go to the ER and I ended up with 6 or 7 stitches. The wound healed rather nicely and you can barely see the scar now.
What would have happened if I had just slapped a band aid on it and just went about my business? I probably would have got an infection and it would have taken a whole lot longer to heal. And I would have a big ugly scar on my palm to remember the day. When it comes to our marriages many of us are the same as the teen-aged Josh...ready to slap a band aid on a wound that needs cleaning and proper treatment.
It is inevitable for us to not suffer wounds within the course of our marriage. If you haven't come to this conclusion yet, you should. You are in a extremely close relationship with another person...you will hurt one another sooner or later. Some wounds we suffer at the hands of our spouse are minor and the health of our marriage will heal them with ease. Before the day is out you will not even remember the wound inflicted.
However, some wounds will not be healed properly without some emotional peroxide and spiritual stitches. And you and your spouse will not be able to do the work of cleaning and closing the wound. That is a job best left for the Master Physician. He is able to perform surgery on the ugliest of situations and bring them to place of healing you would think is impossible. Yes, it will hurt when He does the work. When He cleans the wound He wants to remove every impurity from it so that no infection can set in and cause a festering, oozing, rotting disease that will eventually lead to death. When He closes that cleaned wound it will be with a grace that will leave little to no scaring whatsoever.
He does all of this so that you can have the testimony of what you have been through but only through memories not because of the hideous scar left behind. We stand back amazed at the work the Lord has done in us. We know the story of where we came from and what has been done. But people that we meet for the first time would never know about our past unless we told them. And that is a miracle.
Sometimes, I look at my palms and forget which hand was cut. But, if I look hard enough I can see the slight scar there on my right palm. It reminds me of the day it happened but does not hinder my life. And now, standing where we are, we can look back and remember the dates and days of pain and injury to our marriage but the scars that remain are fading day by day....growing increasingly smaller in the light of what He is doing in us and through us for the glory of God.
Josh and Serena
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