Surviving Hurts From Others Series

(2) Let God soothe my wounds. David said, "You anoint my head with oil." Shepherds put oil on the heads of sheep for two reasons: to soothe or provide protection and to heal. One enemy of sheep is flies. They can’t shake off the flies either by their hooves or by swatting them with a long tail. The worst enemy is the Anose fly.@ This insect actually flies up in sheep=s nose and lay eggs. And the larva drives them crazy. Sometimes in the summertime you’ll see a sheep banging its head against a rock because he’s going crazy from the flies. He can’t do anything about it. So, the shepherd takes olive oil and mixes it with sulfur and anoints the head of the sheep and the oil becomes an insect repellant. One other way the shepherd would protect the sheep with oil. Often in these tablelands there would be snakes that live under the ground. When the sheep bends down to eat they would pop us and bite them on the nose or head. The bites were poisonous and could make them very sick. So the shepherd walked through the pasture and whenever he came to a snake hole he would pour oil in it. This made it almost impossible for the smooth snake to get out of his hole. And the shepherd would also place oil on the sheep=s head and nose so that if the viper did get out it would smell the same oil and be repelled by it. So David is saying: ALet God take care of your hurts and irritations, let God soothe you by taking care of the things that hurt you.@

The second way oil was used is as a salve, an ointment. When a sheep had an open wound the oil would help to heal. When David says, "You anoint my head with oil" he is saying God is going to heal my wounds. There are going to be times when we are hurt. God promises that He will heal our hurt if we will let Him. Read with me. Psa. 147:3- "God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds." He says, "Not only will I settle the score, but if you’ll come to Me and let Me have your hurts, I’ll settle the score and then do a little repair work. I can soothe those hurts. I can bandage them up." Once you’ve forgiven a person who’s hurt you, does that mean all the pain has gone away? No. Even after you’ve forgiven them, you still hurt. Forgiveness is instantaneous but restoration takes time.

Notice it says, "God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds."(MSG) When you get a small cut a band-aid will do. But the deeper the wound in your life.. divorce, rejection by parents, molestation, a partner steals your business.. A deep wound must be dressed with a bandage. Many people think that once they’ve forgiven a hurt they are immediately well. That=s not the way it usually works. After you take the first step of forgiveness, then the healing starts. So God uses His Bible to tell us of His love, committed Christians to demonstrate His love and gives us the strength to serve others, bandaging their wounds and in a real way healing ours. God will heal your broken heart & bandage your wounds but it takes time to heal.

(3) Let God satisfy my needs "My cup overflows". In the Bible, an overflowing cup, is a symbol for total fulfillment. In the Middle East, it’s mostly desert so a shepherd would often have to give his flock water from a well. He would draw up water for hours in order to fill large stone jars for the sheep. But sheep do not like to put their heads inside anything closed, like a jar so the shepherd kept the Acups@ or jars overflowing, so the sheep could drink without fear. Don=t you see? God will meet your needs, especially when you=re hurt. The problem is, when we get hurt, instead of drawing closer we withdraw from the shepherd. And yet, one of the major reasons we get hurt is we expect other people to meet needs only God can meet. No person can give you absolute security in life. No person can give you all the love you need. God never designed you to have all your needs met by another human being. You have needs that only God can meet, you have a Acup@ that only God can fill. When you expect other people to meet those needs you’re going to end up resentful because they can’t do it. They can’t love you unconditionally 24 hours a day. They can’t make you secure 24 hours a day. They can’t make you happy 24 hours a day. They can’t meet all your needs..Why? Because they’re not God.