When God Doesn't Remove, Remain

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

Yesterday, I mentioned that I came across this verse in my prayer time recently. I asked the LORD for some Living Water {expectantly} and He provided.

I found hope in this verse, trusting in the character of God, that HE does heal the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. As I continued to pray for people and meditate on this verse, I kept thinking about the verbs in this scripture.

He heals.
He binds up.

I was asking God to take away. Take away the pain, the suffering, the hurt. If He could just remove the pain, then we could continue. We could see clearly, everything would be fine.

But would it?

It feels like we’re always trying to clean up the mess in our lives, but is the point ever really to have everything tidy? Is that the only time when we’re content? The only time we can truly rest, when we have it all together, nice and neat, free from pain or trial? Will it ever be like that on earth?

What if our circumstances never change? Does that mean our hope in God disappears, dries up, wears out?

OR

Is it when we’re in the midst of our mess, we look to God, the one who makes us clean?

I asked Him to take away, He offers to heal.

If all of our prayers are focused on Him removing,
how do we remain?
How do we continue to pursue Christ, if we feel stuck?
How do we love the LORD when our hearts are weary?
How do we delight in the midst of suffering?
How do we hope when we feel so hopeless?
How do we seek Him when we can’t see past the pain?
How do you press on when you can barely stand up?

So maybe I learned about a bit about life and about prayer through this scripture. Maybe it’s not about asking Him to remove, but asking Him to see us through? That we would go to Him not just to take away, but to heal our broken hearts and bind up our wounds.