Matthew 5:4 (NLT)
God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Today we want GOD’s blessings without the pain of GOD’s purging.” - Charles Allen
After a gruesome work accident years ago, I almost found myself without a toe. Numerous surgeries allowed me to keep the toe, but ultimately I lost my nail for good. Unsure if it wouldn’t come back in grown time after time, they burned the nail bed with some sort of chemical or laser (I was reading a book at the time so I’m not sure which). On the follow up visit, the doctor examined it and said my mangled appendige was healing well. As I prepared to dismount the table, he withdrew this wicked looking toothbrush with wire bristles.
“We’ll just get your scrapping done and you can head out?”
“I’m sorry? Scraping? Why on earth would you take a wire brush to my tender foot?”
“You must slough off or scrape a burn wound to prevent the thing from becoming infected. Or you could end up losing the toe.”
What followed was the worst physical pain I’ve endured. As the horrific toothbrush peeled away the dried blood, dead cells, and a host of other bodily fluids and such, I took deep breaths and tried to find my happy place. Two more treatments followed, each ever so slightly easier than the one before. And each time, the scaring and searing pain became less and less until it finally healed.
My mind (thinking) experiences similar pain in my walk with JESUS. As we grow closer and closer to him, he purges our mind of the junk there- shame, guilt, the past, our lusts and jealousies, our passions and paranoia, our sick imaginations and filthy recollections, our ambitions and our need for significance. With his own wire brush, he scrapes our minds of the sinful infection and brings healing. Despite the unbearable pain involved initially, his loving and compassionate hands are freeing us from what we think is good to what is good. Because it comes from Him. His purging will not only spare your mind, but your soul as well.
Be purged…
Application: Know that GOD speaks through the pain of the valley as much as the peace of the mountain top.
Mindful Meditation: Focus on a painful thought. Now release it to JESUS. If it’s a pain brought about by your own pride or stubbornness, take action to resolve it.
