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“He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).

Today I was praying for several people. Many were sick, injured, or recovering from surgery. At the same time, my back was hurting.

I have noticed that most prayer requests between Christians and in the church are related to healing the body. We are shown multiple times in the Bible that God heals. Jesus healed the sick. God healed kings, lepers, nations. We pray for healing.

If you have studied the science of how our bodies work, you can see that from the beginning, God had a plan for healing. Take the eye for example. Tears wash dirt from the eyes. Then there is how God designed our skin to heal cuts and scrapes. Even our blood clots so wounds can heal. And of course our white blood cells attack infections.

So, with healing come tears, pain, and even scars. Healing takes time. Sometimes it is not how we expect it. But God heals according to His will. Some people are made whole, while others are allowed to keep their illnesses. And some are healed through death, because they’re taken to Heaven where there isn’t any more sickness, disease, pain, or suffering. Whether the body is whole, sick, or dying, it is to glorify God. We can depend on Him.

God chooses to heal, or not to heal, according to His plan.

My response:

» Will I pray and then wait for God to heal according to what He knows will be the best to bring Him glory?

» Will I pray for others who need God’s healing?

» Will I write down the answers to those prayers?

“For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10).

God’s people were not doing well. They had fallen into sin and were facing many enemies. They were discouraged and needed help. So God sent a man named Ezra to help His people (Ezra’s name means “help”). There is a reason that God used Ezra in such a great way. That reason is found in Ezra 7:10, “Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”

The word “prepared” tells us that sometime in Ezra’s life, probably when he was a boy, he decided about his direction in life. He set his heart. Did you know that it is never too early to decide in your heart that you want to serve the Lord? Most missionaries around the world gave their lives to Christ when they were young people.

But what did Ezra prepare his heart to do? He decided to do three things. First, he wanted to “seek the law of the Lord.” That means he wanted to become an expert at knowing the Word of God! Have you ever decided to become an expert at something? When I was a boy, I spent a lot of time playing a game called foosball or table soccer. I remember playing against teenagers as a six year old and making them look very foolish. I became an expert at foosball. But how much better would it be for a young person to decide to become an expert at God’s Word? There is nothing more worthwhile than that!

Second, Ezra decided “to do” the Word of God. Whenever God said something, Ezra wanted to obey right away. Have you ever met a picky eater? (Maybe you are one yourself!) Some kids will poke at their food and say, “I don’t want peas,” or “I don’t like spinach.” They won’t eat it even though it is good for them. Some people are picky about God’s Word. They say, “I don’t want to do that command,” or “I don’t like this.” God doesn’t like it when we are picky eaters of His Word.

Last, Ezra decided “to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” This means that Ezra decided early in life that he wanted to teach others about the Word of God. Maybe God would allow you to someday be a missionary or a pastor or a Sunday School teacher. Then you could teach others about the Lord, just like Ezra did!

God wants your heart!

My response:

» Am I preparing, or setting, my heart to serve the Lord?

» Do I do, or obey, God’s Word, the Bible?

» Who can I teach about what the Bible says?

“But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive” (Genesis 50:20).

Joseph’s brothers had wronged him. They had stripped him of his one prized possession—a coat his father had given him—and sold him into Egypt as a slave. He had spent years and years in a foreign land, away from his family. When he met up with his brothers again after many years, he was second in command over all Egypt. He was in a position to take revenge if he wanted to, and it might seem to us that he had a right to be angry and to get back at them for what they had done.

But Joseph did not take revenge on his brothers. Joseph understood two important things about God. First, Joseph knew that revenge is something we should leave up to God, not something we should take for ourselves. Joseph also understood that God has higher purposes in the wrongs others do to us. God’s higher purposes are always good. Joseph saw that God had used his brothers’ sin against him to bring him to Egypt, where he had a special plan to carry out. Joseph’s rise to power in Egypt put him in a position to save his entire family from dying in a famine. God had brought something good out of evil.

Has anyone wronged you? Purpose (“decide”) in your heart that you will have a correct view of God in the situation. Leave revenge up to Him, and have faith that God’s purpose is to bring about something good—even if you don’t see the good right away. God can see infinitely farther than we can. We need faith in Him and love for Him to have a farsighted vision of His ways. He is planning to bring good out of evil—either in this life or in eternity. We can be sure of that.

We can be confident that God will bring good out of evil.

My response:

» If someone has wronged me, have I told God about my hurt and anger and left them with Him?

» Have I left revenge to God?

» Do I believe God will in some way bring good out of a bad situation?

“Charity [love] suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Corinthians 13:4).

Having God’s kind of love in our hearts means having the kind of love that makes us willing to miss doing something we want to do and to do something else instead—something someone needs us to do for them. For example, God’s kind of love will make us stay after school with a kid in class who is struggling and patiently help him with his homework, even if it means we will miss going to the ice cream parlor to choose from thirty flavors.

God’s kind of love is always kind to all people from all over the world. God’s sort of kindness would never make negative, mean-spirited, or mocking jokes.

Love does not envy and is not jealous of others. God’s kind of love makes us grateful and happy for all He is making us to be and for everything He provides for us.

Pride gives us a swelled head. Pride makes us arrogant. Pride thinks we are better than others and have better things. Pride makes us boast about ourselves and jeer at others. But God’s kind of love in our hearts stops us from feeling proud, boastful, and jeering.

God’s love is perfect toward us, even though we are not perfect. And He wants all of us to love others with His kind of love.

God wants you to be kind.

My response:

» Is my love sacrificial? Am I willing to give up what I want so others can have what they want or need?

» Am I kind to others, even if they are very different from me?

» If someone makes fun of me, am I kind in return because I have God’s kind of love in my heart?

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3).

The storm was strong. Thunder shook the house. The electricity had gone out. Strong winds blew on everything. Dark skies had an eerie effect. The cat snuggled under the bed, wide eyed. But just as suddenly as it began, the storm ended. We went outside to see the damage. My first thought was how peaceful it was now that the storm had passed. Clearing skies and calm breezes left a clean smell in the air. The yard was a mess, but everything was washed clear of the dust.

There are times when nothing seems to go right. Things that are out of your control are, well, out of your control. However, God is in control the entire time. Even during the storm, God has it all in His control. When Jesus and the disciples were in a boat and the sea became stormy, Jesus slept. You can’t get any more at peace than that.

What worries you? What scares you? God has you in the palm of His very large hand. Isaiah 26:3 tells us that peace comes as we trust God. Peace and trust are the two sides of the same coin. Turn your thoughts toward God, and peace is the result. In that peace everything is clearer and cleaner. Just like after a storm.

Peace comes as we trust God.

My response:

» What is going on in my life that is like a storm: completely out of my control and scary or dangerous?

» Do I remember that God is in control of this “storm” in my life?

» Do I keep my thoughts on God?

» If not, why not?