Pain Killers

Pain Killers

"He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.....to give them
beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning and the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Isaiah 61:1,3

Enrolling in a new school in the middle of the year can be difficult for the most social of students but for these two middle school students, not yet teenagers, it was only one more thing in lives turned upside down by events that, in many ways, had left them numb to their circumstances.

The newspaper headline had read "3 Dead In Boat Crash On Lake St. Clair". Like so many tragedies we read about, we get a sense of the devastation that an accident like that causes but it is rarely personal. That changed here when the two students referred to above came for their first day of school two weeks ago. It was their parents who were killed in that tragic boating accident. Without a saying goodbye as we are able to do with loved ones who are sick, this loss came without warning or preparation, announced by a visit they could never have been expected.

As I was trying to explain to their classmates what had happened in these two lives and appealing for compassion, love and understanding, the Lord spoke something so very simple to me; He said "Be a pain killer." I knew right away what He meant. My thoughts raced to the natural pain killers we take for headaches, broken bones, root canals, after surgeries ..... in so many situations. Those pain killers' job is to take the pain away as the healing process of the human body does it's work. If you've had your wisdom teeth pulled, think of it. You took some strong pain killers for a day or two, sometimes longer, until the pain dissipated. They weren't the source of healing but they were necessary to bridge the gap until healing took place.

For these two young lives, the pain of this loss will be around for many years. There is no overnight cure for the hurts they are carrying. But the Lord is desiring us to stand in the gap and, quite literally, be pain killers. We are to allow the love of Christ to flow out of us in such a way that we ease their pain as the healing process takes place.

In the same way, in different degrees, you may know someone suffering heartache from the loss of a loved one, from the loss of a job or problems in relationships, the list can be pretty long of the hurts and wounds that cause pain in each of our lives at one time or another. And while we may not be able to bring healing, or to offer the solutions to the problems being faced, we can take to heart those simple words the Lord spoke to me and "be a pain killer".

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church