Some time ago I was given some pills by a doctor. He told me that I could take them whole however if I had the time they would be far more effective and easier to take if I crushed them so they would turn into powder. He explained that this would make it easier for the pills to mix with the water and for my stomach to absorb them.
This episode was brought to mind yet again a few days ago. This time however I saw something different. Something that was being presented to me by the One who knows all things. This time I saw the pill as our lives.
You see God longs to share our lives with others. The problem is that many of us have hardened ourselves in order to guard ourselves from pain. Pain that has been inflicted upon us already and pain that we work very hard to keep out so as to no longer become even more hurt than we already are.
Unfortunately, when we do this we shut out the very thing that God uses to heal our pain and that is pain itself. I am learning that like they used fire to get rid of fire on the burning oil fields in Iraq during the first Gulf War so God uses pain to heal pain. As he does this our lives are broken and crushed but it is through this process of isolation and darkness that a sweet aroma is released. An aroma that is then able to mix with the lives of others without even trying to do so. Just like the pill in powder form.
Let us therefore encourage ourselves that the when pain comes knocking on our door it is not Dad or life trying to hurt us. Instead it is Dad’s healing hands reaching out yet again towards us as He once again seeks to heal our broken hearts.
Remember there is a very big difference between guarding our hearts and building a big wall around them. By all means stay alert but at the same time stay open!
-pablo-
Photo by Unknown
