If Time Heals, then How Long Does it Take?

I didn’t want to cry in church today, but it happened anyway. 

“My help comes from you. 

You’re right here pulling me through.

You carry my weakness, my sickness, my brokenness all on your shoulders.”

As I listened to Matt triumphantly sing those words, I couldn’t keep the tears from falling. A flurry of raw emotion came over me: thankfulness for Matt’s recovery and for God’s unfailing presence, sadness in remembering us clinging to those lyrics during some of the most dreadful of days, and fear that comes from knowing life will not spare us future despair.

Last week I wrote that I don’t think time alone heals all things, saying “time eases the pain of the experience, but God is our true healer.” Today’s tears are a testimony to this truth. 

Yes, time brings the gift of fading memories, which helps the intensity of painful experiences dissipate. We create new normals and heroically move forward with our lives. Life demands it. But then we hear a song, or see a picture or hear about someone else’s misfortune and suddenly we see that time alone isn’t enough to heal the deep wounds of living in this broken, fallen world.

And when this happens, we have a choice. We can either bury our emotions and trust time to heal them, or we can acknowledge them (despite how scary they might be) and offer them to the one that “comforts the broken hearted” (Psalm 34:18). Here, we can confess to God our belief that He can heal our wounds and make us whole, while also admitting our unbelief that He will do so. 

Faith and healing are woven together in the fabric of God’s love. Is it possible that greater faith in God’s unfailing love, almighty power and perfect wisdom would help us heal our wounds? 

For me, the answer is yes. How about you?