Restoring the Wounded Heart
Conference April 22 and 23, 2005

By Jim Venice

During the Easter season we often hear Isaiah 53:5 quoted which says that Jesus “was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.” It’s a verse we should keep in mind at all times, not just at Easter. The second part of this verse, “He was bruised for our iniquities,” is really amazing when you stop to think about it. A bruise is defined as a wound that causes internal pain, or an injury to the emotions or spirit of a person. If you have experienced divorce, whether it be your own or that of your parents, you have experienced this wounding. Perhaps you have been raped or sexually abused in some way, you have experienced much emotional pain. Perhaps you have been the target of verbal abuse. It may be possible that you have experienced abuse by a member of the clergy or a religious body of some kind. This type of abuse may have caused you to even doubt God’s ability to protect and care for you.

We have, for the most part, been very careful to hide these wounds for fear that people will judge us as weak because of our wounds. We often go through life as emotional cripples dragging our crippled leg behind us. If only we could be healed! We have not experienced the healing that Jesus desires to give to us, because we have not allowed Him into our brokenness. We build walls to prevent further wounding, but in so doing we often keep Jesus at arm’s length when His desire is to bring healing into our broken lives.

Recently, God gave me a very clear demonstration of His desire to heal and how we resist Him. There was an occasion where my daughter had gotten a splinter in her foot. She was more terrified of having me remove the splinter than the inevitable pain and possibility of infection if we let it remain. I forcibly held her and tried to remove the object that was causing her pain. Meanwhile, she insisted that she could take care of it on her own, that it really wasn’t that bad. As she resisted my attempts to remove the object of her pain, God spoke very clearly to me that we do the same thing when He tries to minister to our areas of pain. Our first reaction is to pull back the infected area that God is trying to heal. We do our best to doctor ourselves, to bandage our wounds, and put on a brave face. Though that wound has been causing us pain for years, we insist that we can handle it on our own. When the pain gets severe enough, we seek for outside help often in the form of a trusted friend or a doctor, or we medicate ourselves. If we take enough of this medication, or drink enough the pain becomes numbed. We even seek to find healing in illicit relationships. We develop a mindset that if we can just meet the right person, they can make us feel whole and complete. Meanwhile, the wound that hasn’t ever really been dealt with properly is still festering. We know that an infection can eventually cause serious loss of function in our body if not taken care of properly, and can even lead to gangrene in extreme cases. You probably know people who are so emotionally wounded that they have lost their ability to give and receive love. They settle for leftovers. They develop a mindset that they would rather have any relationship than nothing at all so they continue to experience more wounding because they are trying to get someone to love them that is no more capable of giving love than they are of receiving it.

If your heart has been wounded by emotional, sexual, verbal, physical, or religious abuse—there is a place of healing for you. If you are struggling with depression, fear, anxiety, gender confusion, poor self-image or various addictions—you can be free from these things. If you desire a closer, more intimate relationship with God and to live, move, and have your being in His presence—you have an appointment for an encounter with God!

A conference entitled, “Restoring the Wounded Heart” will be held on Friday evening April 22nd and Saturday April 23rd at LakeCrest Church, 1415 Prospect Road, Lake St. Louis, MO 63367. This Mini-conference is sponsored by Exodus International - Mid-Central Region. The speakers of the conference will be Michael and Beth Babb of Wichita, KS, who are the regional directors.

Michael and Beth Babb reside in Wichita, Kansas, moving there from Hays, Kansas in 1984. In 1986 they founded “Freedom At Last,” a ministry to men and women who are in need of heart and soul healing and are desirous of achieving this healing by developing an intimate relationship with the Father. Their thrust in ministry is “Restoring the Wounded Heart” or “Soul Restoration.”

Michael was ordained in 1994 and serves as staff counselor and associate pastor of Faith Community Church, located in Wichita. He is also the Exodus International Regional Representative for the Mid-Central Region and has taught locally, nationally and internationally for Exodus and other organizations.

Beth is also a well-known teacher of God’s Word and has also taught locally, nationally and internationally. Michael and Beth have been married for 29 years and have three grown children. They recently had their first grandbaby.

If you would like further information, please call: FirstLight Ministries (314) 749-4937 or Pure Heart Ministries (636) 679-6815. A conference brochure is available on the internet at: www.PureHeartMinistries.org. There will be a $25 fee per attendee, and a love offering will also be received. To register please mail a check or money order payable to: Pure Heart Ministries, PO Box 1024, Saint Peters, MO 63376. Please be sure to include your name(s), address, and phone number.