Go To The Healer

“Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.” (Ho 6:1 AV)

 Just this morning, I thanked God for His correction.  It may seem a bit uncomfortable at the time, but if we hate sin as we should, we welcome the correction.  The promise above is to Israel.  But a Father treats all His children with consistency and devotion.  What is true of Israel is true of the church.  What is true of Israel and the church is also true for the individual saint.  The LORD may have to inflict some corrections; some of them severe; but He will not leave us in a broken state.  He will heal the places that hurt. He will hug us (bind us up) when we feel isolated.  He will draw us closer than we have ever been before.  The mercy of God fails not.

I noticed something as a father of three sons.  Their attitude toward reconciliation changed a bit when they hit their adolescent year.  When they were small, I chastened them and the experience was so unpleasant, that the first thing they did was seek emotional affirmation by a hug.  They clung to me after the corporal punishment was over and did not let go until after the sobbing was over.  Sometimes, they would cling to my leg and they reach up to be picked up.  I picked them up, held them, hugged them, and consoled them.  I never apologized for having to punish them.  Rather, I restated the reason for the punishment but always affirmed my unconditional love for them.  Then something happened.  They got a little older and seeing as how reconciliation seemed more important to me than to them, they went off and pouted; expecting me to chase them and feel bad for what I needed to do.  I never did.  Doing so would undermine to whole experience.  Rather, I waited until the separation was so bad for them that they made the first move before I reconciled.  The thing is, a loving father never wants to remain at odds with his erring child.  He must because of their actions.  But he doesn’t want to.  He wants to fix everything.  He wants the pain to stop.  He wants his child to be happy again.  With our heavenly Father, it is no different.

The encouragement of the Prophet is to return to the LORD.  The basis of this return is that God will heal and bind up.  If God did not heal and bind up, there would be little reason to return.  The worst thing a father can do is to be permanently estranged from his child even after punishment is inflicted.  I have met some fathers like that.  Unless his child does not please him in all things, then he wants nothing to do with the child.  How sad.  The comfort we have is that when we disappoint our Father, we can always return.  Our hope is that when we fail Him, He will love us with everlasting love, and fix us up.  We know that whatever mess we make, it is never big enough that God cannot fix us despite it.  He may not remove all the circumstances we created, but our relationship can be reconciled and grow stronger.  And in the end, that is the most important matter.  What a gracious and loving Father we have.  We have nothing but hope!  Fear is abated.  Shame is extinguished.  Our standing before God is eternally secure.  All we need to do is return so that He can repair all the damage we have done to our relationship with Him.