At fifteen, with Teen Missions I would hear about Jesus our Savior. I was drawn to the joy I saw in my new friends who were Jesus followers. I longed to have this joy. That night at our evening service I would go to the alter and tell Jesus I wanted Him to save me.

 

I longed to be free from the fear that had me captive to so much pain. I was afraid of what I could not see, afraid of the dark, afraid of dying, afraid of being lost or being alone.

 

For years I lived knowing Jesus came to earth, took on the body of a man and paid the price on the cross that I could not pay. I related to Jesus as my Savior.

 

Jesus longs to be our healer. For so many years I missed this amazing truth.

 

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me, To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord that He might be glorified.

 

 

Through gratitude, quieting and joy we connect with Jesus. Through this relationship, we are able to open up our wounded hearts. He longs to revisit the secret rooms we have shut the door to. He wants to be invited into every room of our hearts.

 

 

Our pain prevents us from opening our hearts to our Healer. He wants to replace our trauma with His presence. As we invite Him into these closed rooms of our heart, He shows us that we were never alone nor will He leave us isolated in our pain.

 

Mary Hasz, in her book The Healing Journey, says, “Our hearts become divided when we lock things out of our memories. Some parts of our hearts are full and alive, while other parts carry pain and trauma. We want to become whole; we want to worship Him with all our hearts. God created us so our hearts could divide out. It is a survival mechanism of sorts. When we endure extreme traumas, we compartmentalize our hearts. It helps us cope and continue a seemingly normal life. It is only when we are willing to deal with the trauma that we can be ready to move into the deeper things of God.”

 

In John and Stasi Eldredge’s book Captivating, they say, “In order to experience His healing we must also give him permission to come in to the places we have long shut to anyone. Will you let me heal you? He knocks through our loneliness. He knocks through our sorrows, He knocks through events that feel too close to what happened to us when we were young-a betrayal, a rejection, a word spoken, a relationship lost. He knocks through many things, waiting for us to give Him permission to let Him enter in.”

 

I am thankful today that Jesus came to save me and heal me.  I’m thankful that He passionately pursues me. I thankful that He loves conversing with me. My pain doesn’t make Him uncomfortable, neither does He tell me to get over it. He treats my pain and weaknesses tenderly.

 

This is God’s complete gift to us His children. Will we open the rooms of our heart to Him this holiday season?

 

Through what life event is Jesus your healer knocking today?  In what ways are you grateful to Jesus?

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