Wounded

As many know, my son was injured just before Christmas. It was a very difficult time for us as a family.

While he was still in the hospital we talked about why this had happened to him, beyond the obvious reason of carelessness.

He made the comment that maybe God was trying to get his attention.

Our whole lives were consumed by the injuries he had sustained. For weeks I had to help him get dressed. He could barely move and when he did he had to use a walker.

When he was finally able to return to school he did so in a wheelchair that we had to load at the house and unload at the school. Then we had to be there to pick him up everyday.

We had to rearrange our schedules, plan our time away from home around medication and nausea. He lost 20 pounds bringing him to around 140 so I was constantly trying to think of something he could eat without getting sick.

During the night for the first week or so home I woke up during the night to check on him, give him pain medicine or something for nausea. Then we we finally got him halfway settled he had surgery.

We had to arrange home schooling which was another adventure. I could go on and on.

Thankfully, even though he is still in a boot for several more weeks he is doing so much better. He is driving again and even working a little.

Through all of it there was a change in him. He pushed through to God. His hunger has grown. He is working harder to win souls.

My Pastor talked about apple trees in a message one time. He said that apple trees tend to focus energy on growing taller which causes less energy to be focused on producing fruit.

The way to correct this is to take an axe and wound the tree in the side until sap runs out. The tree then focuses its energy on the wound and not on getting taller. And it's during this time of healing that the tree begins to produce more fruit.

Have you ever been wounded? I know I have. Even as I am writing this I am recovering from wounds.

I don't want to be found somewhere, curled up in the fetal position feeling sorry for myself. I want to focus on being productive during this time of healing. I want to be fruitful.

Everywhere around there are walking wounded, the person beside you on the pew, the checker at the grocery store, maybe even you. What an example we could be if we let our time of healing be a time of great worship, a time of praise, and a time to reach the lost.

And let it be the a time to reach out to the one who was "wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities." (Isaiah 53:5)

He bore it all so that we could bear it till He comes again, till we reach that city where there will be no sorrow, no tears, no pain, no more wounds.