Burned.

On our son Sutton's 2nd birthday he touched a hot exhaust pipe and received a third degree burn on his sweet baby hand. We immersed his hand in a cup of ice water in attempts to soothe the horrible burning sensation, then sped off to the hospital. If he took his hand out, or when the water no longer was cold, the burning sensation would intensify. It.was.horrible! As a mother I wanted to take away the pain. But we relied on the dr and nurses to tell us how to treat it and care for his precious baby hand, so that it would heal correctly, with minimal damage. They gave us special cream that soothed the skin and told us to keep it wrapped. But, he was required to move his hand a few times a day so that the skin did not heal wrong and restrict his hand movement. 

Though we cannot always see it, such it is with us when we are burned by others, or we do the burning.

We are a world of hurting and broken people. And while we try our best to do God's work, and abide in His will, we so often fall short, accidentally injuring those around us. 

Sometimes this is purposeful and sometimes it is accidental because, we are, after all, all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)

Instead of having "hurt feelings" and curling up in a ball, we can instead, have an eternal perspective on this and ask, "God, how are you using this to refine me?". (Cue ice water)

In Daniel 3 King Nebuchadnezzar furiously throws Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the blazing furnace...cranked up so hot, it killed the men carrying these 3 up to the furnace. But, the 3 were not only safe from the crazy hot flames, the Lord was with among them.(Daniel 3:25)

So it is when we go through a trial, fiery and painful....we can be 100% certain that God is with us and has a plan. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) We can call out to Him and He will listen. 

Everything is God's, including our lives. So will He not even use your painful circumstances to His glory?

I love the reminder in Isaiah 54:17 

"No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgement You will condemn. This is our heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication is from Me, declares the Lord.

May God's word be ointment to your burn.

Soothing your soul and healing it in a way that does not leave permanent damaged.