Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise;
when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. | Micah 7:8

Recently during our worship service at church, I had a powerful encounter with the Lord. I saw Jesus ever so sweetly in front of me, tending to my wounds and pouring His oil and wine on them (Luke 10:34). Immediately I was reminded of the verse in Psalm 147:3 that says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

For me personally, this past year has felt beyond difficult, seemingly full of tremendous loss and heartache. Even though I have tried to carry on like a brave soldier and “fight the good fight” (2 Timothy 2:3), in reality I have felt like a wounded warrior. In the encounter that I had with the Lord during that worship service, it was as though I was communicating with Jesus without even speaking a word.

Psalm 139:4 tells us that before we speak a word on our tongue, the Lord knows it completely. In that very moment, Jesus was listening to my heart.

As I sang songs of worship to Him in the midst of my deep pain, it was as if He was saying to me, “I know the journey has been long and difficult; I know that things have not turned out as you had hoped or anticipated. I see the hope deferred that has attemped to steal your joy. I understand; I get it, even when others don’t. I know the sacrifices that have been made in secret; I’ve seen the cost. Like Mary, you have poured out what was costly to you at My feet, even when others may have misunderstood and wrongfully judged you (John 12:3). Even so, Beloved, you have chosen the better thing; it will not be taken from you.”

After hearing the Lord communicate to me, He continued to ever so gently peer into my heart and inspect those places that hurt. He was like a good physician, cleaning out the wounds and bandaging them so that they could heal properly.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3).

Many have felt pruned to the point of having nothing left. In the natural, a tree can be pruned back so extremely that it would appear as though it could never survive without its branches. However, it is often that the harsher prunings yield the greater harvest.

I feel the Lord’s heart of encouragement today towards those who have felt wounded and exhausted by the longevity of the battle. I believe He is calling you today, saying, “Wounded warrior, arise! You have felt as though you have been in the fight of your life, but know this: what has looked like severe loss will be turned into gain! As you allow Me to heal your wounds, I will restore you, and you will dream again. You will see My promises fulfilled in your life. Though you have once felt alone in the dark, My light is now breaking through. The enemy has been working overtime to bring discouragement to your heart, but the truth is that you are closer to reaping your harvest than you can imagine. Lift your eyes, My child, for truly your redemption draws near (Luke 21:28).”

I was reminded of a scene in the movie, Facing the Giants, when the coach was trying to make a powerful statement to his team. There was a key player on the football team whom the rest of the students looked up to, but he had not been using all of his potential. One day during practice, the coach blindfolded the young man and told him to crawl across the football field, carrying one of his teammates on his back.

This instruction from the coach was physically and mentally exhausting for the football player, and as he crawled further and further across the field, he would cry out, “Coach, I’ve got nothing left! I can’t keep going.” The coach would then reply, “Keep going! You’re almost there; you’re going to make it!” Meanwhile, the rest of the team watched in awe, as the young man had crawled blindfolded across the entire field, carrying a teammate on his back. The player had unknowingly crawled farther than the coach had even instructed him to do. When the coach finally took off the blindfold, the young man was able to see the the great lengths that he had traveled. The entire team cheered, watching as their exhausted teammate realized the great task he had just completed.

The point of this grueling exercise was to demonstrate to the team’s key player that he carried more potential and influence that he was even aware of. The Father is saying today, “Keep going! You’re almost there; you’re going to make it!” Like the football player in the movie, you are so much closer to breaking through than you even realize. Now is not the time to quit or back down. Warriors, arise! Your finest hour is upon you, and the Lord will restore the years that the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25).

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
    and the glory of the Lord rises upon you (Isaiah 60:1).