Joni and Friends Daily Devotional
The Best "Better"
"Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." Jeremiah 17:14
My father, forever in faded jeans, red suspenders and plaid shirt, looked so out of place, so uncomfortable when he'd come to the hospital to see me back in those early days of my injury. It warmed my heart when he'd stand by my bedside, white-knuckle the guardrail, smile and whisper with wet eyes, "In every day and in every way, you're getting better and better and better." He'd say it every time he came. His was a constant reassurance that I would not be paralyzed for long; every day, in his eyes, I was getting better and better.
My body never shook off the paralysis. The pragmatist would say, "See, your father's words were wishful thinking. You didn't get better, Joni; instead, you got stuck with a wheelchair."
That's not the way I choose to look at it. Daddy was right. Every day I did get better. Maybe not on the outside, but on the inside. My soul became settled. My hope became clear. This is the sort of healing described in Isaiah 53:5: "...and by his wounds we are healed." The atonement secured for us healing more dramatic than that which is physical; God is interested in healing the inside of a person. For me, a healed and happy heart is the best "better" for "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).
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Think of the last time you said, "Lord, it would be much better if you would only..." Now think again: would it? It's not that God has a different definition for the word "better;" it's just that his idea of better goes deeper. It goes to the heart of the matter.
Lord Jesus, heal me from the inside out. Get to the heart of the matter in my life and show me the better way... the best way.
Blessings,
Joni and Friends
www.joniandfriends.org
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