---GOD'S HEALING GRACE ~~

--"He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases."--[Psalm 103:3]

--I have healed beautifully from a six-hour surgery to remove a benign lump from my left jaw. There is not the slightest scar.

Watching my face heal reminded me of other illnesses I have survived, starting in childhood: mumps and measles, chickenpox and whooping cough, strep throat, and a rare blood disease that almost took my life in the first grade.

I look at my arms and hands. From a lifetime of working on cars and pruning trees, my arms have been bruised, burned lacerated, punctured, crushed and sprained. Yet my arms look about as smooth and clean as they did fifty years ago.

How clever of God to give us smart bodies with a self-healing app installed at birth!

The wounds that bother me most, however, are the invisible wounds of the heart. Times when I was crushed by harsh criticism from bullies at school. Even worse is the shame I feel over my own careless words that hurt people I love the most.

"That's where God's grace comes in? my daughter Natalie reminds me.

"I know, I'm grateful, but I would rather I had never said those things."
"Don't we all," she says smiling. "But you learned something from your mistakes, and that's important."

I look again at my arms. They are sill strong and useful, after all the insults they have endured; and if my heart looks as good as they do, it's only because of our amazing God's great healing grace. ~~

--"I thank You, Father for healing me within and without so that I might continue to be strong and useful to those who depend on me. You truly are amazing. amen."

--Guideposts/DS~
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