Healing Wounds

I have a friend who is ninety-two years young. On one occasion, he took a bad fall and bruised almost his entire left arm. He came to church with a bulky bandage and was in a lot of pain. I was concerned for my friend, and told him to call me if he needed help with anything. Sure enough, later that evening I received his call. He asked, “Can you come over and help me change my bandage?” The girl inside of me took over, and honestly, I was grossed out. Indecisively, I located some sterile gloves and headed to his house.

I found him sitting in his favorite chair, holding his arm in pain. He explained that it would be a challenge to remove the bandage. Likewise, I was thinking the same thing. I knew that if I was going to help him, it would not be on my own. I remembered the verse, “ If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Christ Jesus
(1 Peter 4:11).”

I relied on God's strength to help me care for someone who was injured. As I carefully discarded the bandage, numerous wounds were exposed. I saw each cut and bruise that surfaced his arm. Rather than feeling a sense of hesitancy, I couldn't help but think of Jesus. My friend's injury reminded me of the many wounds that Jesus withstood for our sins. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds we have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).”

I gently applied ointment to the wounds. Together, we wrapped fresh gauze and bandage on his arm. These very wounds forced me to visualize the sacrifice that our Savior made for us. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe in him and have eternal life.” Despite my reluctance to serve a friend in need, I was given an opportunity to remember the cross. Sometimes it is the little things in life that remind us of the enormous sacrifice that Jesus made for the remission of our sins; that we might experience everlasting life!