Wounded Healer

When I was in seminary I had the distinct privilege of sitting at the feet of a man filled with wisdom, compassion, and mercy.  He is a professor at Asbury and has a long history with my alma mater.  Before I even left Texas for Kentucky, my pastor who had also attended Asbury told me about Dr. Steve Seamands. When I began to plan out my course work I made sure to include one of his classes as soon as I could.

I was not sorry.  In fact, as I journeyed through one of my first classes with this professor, he had us read one of the books the he had written.  One thing you must understand is that seminary is filled to the brim with reading material.  Students are assigned books to read, web pages to read, magazine articles to read, and anything else that a professor can lay his or her hands on for them to read.  Fortunately, most of the reading assignments are interesting and are beneficial beyond just imparting some kind of knowledge.

The life of a seminary student.

But the book that Dr. Seamands wrote and had us read was different.  I wasn't just gleaning information along with spiritual growth from it; it was as though the words from the pages of that book were being transmitted directly from his heart to mine.  Not only did I understand what he was saying, I had lived it.  In fact, I could feel my spirit being fed in a wonderfully frightful way.  At the end of the class one day, I tried to explain to him how I had been changed from reading his book.  I'm not sure I conveyed it to him very well that day, but I tried.

The next fall, he offered a course on Christian healing.  Once again he had us read one of his books and once again I could sense the Holy Spirit working in me as I read the words he had written.  Over the course of that semester, I was given an opportunity to give a testimony during a chapel service of my own healing from severe arthritis.  The next time the class met, Dr. Seamands asked me to give the testimony again for those who had been unable to attend chapel.  When I was finished, he made a statement that has been in the back of my mind ever since.  He said, "Dustin is a wounded healer."

At the time I guess I wasn't spiritually mature enough to understand fully what that statement meant.  I'm not sure I am spiritually mature enough fully to understand even now.  But this week while I was reading through 1 John, the Holy Spirit revealed more of my wounds and the ability of a wounded healer to work among people.  In 1 John 5 we are told, "Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts.  Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son.  And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life."  As I read through these words, my faith was once again confirmed.

But even as my faith was confirmed, the evil things I have done were brought to mind.  The disgusting talk, the horrible way I treated people, the way that I had tried to make myself center stage came flooding into the forefront of my thinking.  All of the self-doubt, all of the selfishness, all of the hatred I had felt for others in their treatment of me had caused wounds in me.  But then the Holy Spirit reminded me of Dr. Seamands' statement, "Dustin is a wounded healer."  I had a decision to make.  I could either keep these wounds hidden away from others or I could go ahead and let people see the wounds and explain to them what caused them and how they had healed.  I could either continue to live my eternal life for myself or I could happily live my eternal life for the benefit of others.  I have chosen to live for others.

One of Dr. Seamands' books.

After I made that decision, I looked Dr. Seamands up on Facebook and let him know what had happened.  This was his reply, "Blessings on you too as you go deeper in Him, and as your scars become more radiant, like his."  That was the affirmation I needed.  I hope my scars do become more radiant in the coming years.  I hope that the wounds I have give me the opportunity to genuinely love, care for, and minister to those who need Christ's wounds.  I pray that my wounds never cause me to look back with resentment, but that they free me from the cause and help me to love the healer much more deeply.

My wounds have been healed and they are being healed.  That is what happens when you have the Son...you get eternal life.  Not some hoped for, distant other world.  You get to start eternal life now, having your wounds healed through the wounds of our glorious savior.  Until next time...

+May your wounds be healed by the Father, through the blood of Jesus Christ, by the ever present authority of the Holy Spirit.

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