Brokenness Mended

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  Psalm 147:3

There are two dogwood trees in my front yard.  One is truly magnificent, the tallest dogwood tree I have ever seen.  It is bell shaped with branches that sweep the ground like eyelashes sweep the cheeks when the eyes are closed.

The other dogwood tree is so small it almost seems insignificant.  Last year the top of the trunk rotted and fell off, taking with it most of the flowering branches and leaving a jagged stump of a trunk bare and exposed.  It was such an eyesore that I considered chopping it down, but I decided to give it a chance to recover and see what would happen.  Today the new leaves and branches almost hide the ugly stump in the middle, and it's well shaped, round and almost symmetrical.  In another year or two it should be a beautiful tree.  

Sometimes, through illnesses or accidents or other kinds of damage, people appear to be like that old jagged stump of a trunk.  They may seem to be beyond repair.  Our bodies and minds and hearts and souls may reveal the ugly results of all kinds of hardships in life.  But God, the Great Physician, will go to work and begin to repair us.  Often He uses people to help cover up our broken places and hide our scars.  Many times it takes willingness and patience and love to heal bodies, minds, hearts, and souls.

Do you need the healing touch of the Great Physician?  Will you place yourself in His hands and trust Him patiently as He works in your life?  Do you know anybody who might need another chance and your helping hands?  May we look beyond the ugly scars in our lives and the lives of others and visualize what we can become if we are mended.

Father, thank You for Your healing touch in my life.  May I be Your hands and Your heart to help as You heal the broken places in the lives of others.  Amen.