Wounded Warriors

I think God must have a special place in His heart for the men and women who serve our military as medics, physicians, nurses, and their support personnel.  Can you think of a more intense, discouraging, and yet rewarding job?  They wake up every day knowing that they will spend their day tending to those who are wounded and scarred, in both visible and invisible ways.  They carefully apply their healing skills so that they can--return them to the battlefield??  Because, if they do their job skillfully, and their patient recovers fully--which is always the goal--that is what may happen.  

God understands their heart; He feels the joy of victory when a medical team does the impossible and saves the life of someone wounded so badly that there seemed to be no hope.  He feels their pride when they watch a soldier push through the difficult months of physical therapy.  He feels their despair when they recognize the patient in front of them and know that they "fixed" this soldier just months before; did their job so well that they returned him to duty, and now they must tend to his wounds again.

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

This text evokes a powerful mental picture for me.  It's not hard to imagine God as healer, especially when we consider the many Biblical stories of Jesus touching the people around him; healing their diseases, straightening their twisted limbs, restoring their vision, and even calling them from death.   This Psalm tells us of the tender loving care God uses to heal our wounds.  It evokes an image of God as the one who applies the soothing salve, who wraps our wounds with fresh bandages, who touches our diseases and restores us.  It also tells us that He knows when our hearts are broken and and He can heal those wounds, too.

God is the Great Physician for all those engaged in spiritual warfare.  He patches us up, knowing that He is returning us to the battle.  He strengthens us and encourages us when our hearts are broken by the pain that sin causes in the world all around us, and especially close to home.   Just like those faithful military doctors and nurses, He knows that He is fixing us in order to return us to the battlefield. 

However, He never sends us back alone.   We are reassured of His presence in this beautiful passage from another Psalm:

The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help.  he rescues them from all their troubles.  The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  Psalm 34:17-18

God knows the hearts of His wounded warriors.  He is never far from us and He will hear us when we call.