The next thing that Jesus  sends us to do  is to  “bind up the broken hearted“…  the last time my heart was broken was when I needed to  demonstrate  my love for my wife and completely  shut down  the business… even though we would still be honoring reservations for 4-1/2 months, Ellen just wanted to shut it down… like now … no more reservations.  When I make a decision like that… to put someone else before what Philip wants…… then…  something of Philip that needs to die… does just that… it dies…

Then He comes in with  His life  and  “binds up”  that wound… stops the bleeding… bandages it… wraps it up… gives the wound relief…. starts the healing process…  (those are all meanings of the word that is translated as “bind”  from the original language)

It has to be His Life though… not mine… not my sympathy… not my humanism… not the  great responses I was taught  that would cover every circumstance in life…  just His life… just His love.

When our buyer backed out of the house sale, the night before the closing… it was  devastating  for Ellen… the last thing she needed was for Philip to come with some canned religious saying assuring her that everything was ok… she needed to just be held… just be loved on…. and then have time alone… from everything else… she needed to just talk to Him… then He stepped in and started to bind up that very deep wound…

Loving on people… telling my stories…  and then  pointing people to Him  is the best way I know to  bind up the broken hearted…

🙂