It is clear that a new breed of weapon is about to emerge. They are the wounded healers. Who are these people? Well, they do not have every hair in place or a clean record. They are not the sanitized, immaculate version of the Body of Christ.
They have messed up and then gotten back up. Trampled and left for dead, God restored them! They have no image to protect or ego to wound. They are the most dangerous people that Satan will ever face!
They gained all new appetites in the furnace of affliction. They do not need the glory, and they eschew titles and awards. Their unswerving passion is to show compassion and take prisoners of love. You cannot get them to fight over doctrine, because they have been to the Cross. They know the Blood that bought them, and then brought them back to life.
They are like Peter at Pentecost. Only a soul who has been handed another chance after denying the Lord three times will understand the inner fire of a wounded healer. Who could write such a dangerous song as Amazing Grace but John Newton whose plaque says, “Once an infidel and libertine / A servant of slaves in Africa / Was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour JESUS CHRIST / restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the Gospel which he had long laboured to destroy.”
You cannot find such zeal in religious do-gooders who never brave beyond ivied halls of respectability. You will not find this flame in the bleachers where the cold souls sit and keep score, but who will never take the field.
Wounded healers do not boast of clean uniforms and of battles evaded, but of scars and gates of hell invaded. They have no preaching pedigree, only a song that sets the captive free.
We all know of the verse in Daniel 11:32 that says,” Those who do wickedly against the covenant he shall corrupt with flattery; but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.“ What we tend to overlook is the verse that comes later that speaks of the wounded healers. Daniel 11:35 says,” And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white, until the time of the end; because it is still for the appointed time.”
This is a word for you my friend! Your attack is not to destroy you but to refine you! Your rejection and your abandonment are not meant for shame, but for purity. It does not matter how your garments appear to Pharisees, only that they are white before God.
The most incredible news is this… though religious voices have disqualified you; your destiny is yet for an appointed time! The door that God holds open, stays open!
Now let us look at another aspect of the Wounded Healer. They are able to reach the masses that the regular church cannot. Therefore, they are the perfect weapon for this moment, at the end of all things. If only these special-ops believers could see who they are, and lose their need for the approval of cookie cutter Christians, then they will become God’s tractor beam for lost souls.
Getting rid of the fear of man was the principal prize that so many of you gained in adversity. So many of you wrote to me about the horrific events of your life and in the face of everything else, it became so real, how much God meant everything and the approval of your judges meant nothing. Truly, you shouted, “If God is for us, who can be against us!”
Many wrote of the life of power that rose out of the ashes of despair. They felt equipped to do more than ever. They felt useful and lethal!! AMEN!! This has to be the purest meaning of 2 Corinthians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
Look around you and you will see how a new generation of leader is coming to the fore. They do not wait for committee approval. They rent a school auditorium in a bad area and just start preaching. They preach raw sermons with an open heart and crowds come from everywhere.
Their frontline ministry is unlisted in the who’s who of the council of Churches but Jesus feels just fine showing up every time they meet! Look again and see others who carry “unlicensed weapons”. They open their homes to youth. They send out food, clothes and love in the most unconventional ways imaginable all with the smile of God.
Wounded healers may not wear denominational labels. They do not schmooze in the right rooms, but they carry the fight to where it matters the most. They operate under direct orders of the King of Kings!
When you see one, you will know them. They will not judge you and no matter how far gone you feel, they will see you through the lens of the Holy Spirit. They will see you as you will look after your miracle has come. You will feel welcome in their presence and you will look priceless in their eyes. They do not view the sinner as a commodity, but as kidnapped royalty.
What about you? What will you do with your adversity, pain and shame? All I can do is tell you what I did. At the lowest point of my life, God was waiting for me to make a choice. I chose to minister wherever the door opens, and to preach from now on as if each message is my last.
Deciding to go on when you feel nothing but agony, is the greatest victory that you will ever win. Not caring who gets the credit will rip the lid off your limits.
What are you and I waiting for? We have loved ones to snatch back! We have miracles to unleash on lost souls. There is a whole world out there that has never even heard of church fights or legalistic regulations.
When Elijah told the widow to go and get as many containers as she could and God would fill them with oil, she realized that the condition of the cans, bottle, pails, or pots was not important. God put oil in all of them. Wounded healers are not perfect containers, they are simply full of oil and that is all that truly matters.
God knows what he is doing. Saul of Tarsus was the wounded healer who surpassed all of the twelve disciples. He felt unworthy to be a disciple and said so in no uncertain terms. Yet, he attributed his unsurpassed labor for Christ to his awareness that he was a broken vessel.
Jesus showed another power of the wounded healer in Luke 7:44- 47, “Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon (the Pharisee), “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”
Therefore, to all you wounded healers, I say, you will not get credit from the religious peanut gallery, so you will have to be content with accomplishing more than any of them will for Christ, and loving the Lord more than they can ever imagine!
