Bandaid anyone?

I observed a little photo on Facebook this morning (credit goes to the Warriors of Christ community on Facebook). It was simple, but the thought behind it was pretty significant! Two images - one of a Bandaid, the other of an open Bible. One caption read - "This is for outside wounds" while the other read "This is for inside wounds". Brilliant!  We find all kinds of ways to bind up our wounds on the outside from bandages for those larger cuts or sores, to a small wedge of toilet paper to cover that nick obtained while shaving. In time, they usually heal because they were covered over by something while they had time for a scab to form and the open surface area to close.  Sometimes this is all we need - a simple covering in order to allow time for the wounds to heal. Then there are times when the bandage on the outside means there has been some work done on the inside, as well. 

All praise goes to God, Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One. He is the Father of compassion, the God of all comfort. He consoles us as we endure the pain and hardship of life so that we may draw from His comfort and share it with others in their own struggles. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 VOICE)

Wounds are best bound up by that which will become the most advantageous for the healing of whatever has been hurt. For example, we don't put a wet dressing on a very wet wound.  We use dry dressings in order to absorb the moisture the wound is exuding itself.  Then there are times when a little salve may also be required because that wound will not heal well without a little help from the medicinal effect of that salve.  The same is true of the "internal wounds" of our soul and spirit - they sometimes heal with the simplest of bandaging, but at other times, they require a whole lot more TLC and a lot of "nursing" to heal.

In that time of healing, the Word of God can be both the bandage and the salve.  It absorbs what needs to be absorbed, covers over while tender areas have a chance to heal over, and brings the necessary "medicine" to that wounded soul or spirit!  God's Word is that which "soothes" the pain and removes the "grime" of sin which hurts us more than we might ever realize and creates wounds way beyond the ability to heal without the tender care of the Great Physician.  It also binds up those areas in our lives where hurts from others just seem to deep to heal from because they have cut deep and left gaping wounds.  Regardless of the wound, the Word of God is sufficient to heal.

As wounds heal, there is a process we might observe of us becoming less and less sensitive to the pain originally caused by the wound.  It is one of the signs we take as a positive sign the wound is healing as it should.  If you have ever cut the end of your finger, every time you go to touch something, you are reminded afresh of the presence of the wound. This is often how it is with those wounds which are closer to the surface in our lives - those things others can "bump up against" and bring a reminder to us of the pain we are enduring.  Then there are those deeper wounds which ache and give us cause to pull away on occasion because we are being crippled by them.  All wounds have a chance to heal when they are given the right attention and treated with the right medicine, though!  Even the deep ones!

It makes no difference the type of wound - the course of treatment is the same.  Allow the Word of God to get into you, cover over those raw areas of hurt and pain, and then allow it to either be the cover which provides a barrier until health is restored, or becomes the means by which deeper wounds are cleaned out, allowing newness and freshness to be restored to the inner spirit.  In time, health comes - but with the right "medicine", healing is sped along in the process. Just sayin!