Today's EncouagInk Words - Psalm 107:17-22, Jeremiah 9:22-26

Don't you ever wonder why you have to suffer, I know lately I have been wondering that a lot because I have been going through a lot of physical pain which usually leads me to mental anguish. I usually go to the Word of God during these times because I know that He is my source of all truth. This morning I was lead to a devotional in the book Breakfast for the Soul compiled by Judith Couchman. The devotional is:

There Is a Balm

by Kay Arthur

(I am going to type this in for you because it really helped me and

I thought it may help someone else looking at my blog.)

"Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician? --Jeremiah the Prophet

[In Gilead] as balm was produced which was known not only for its healing properties but also for its cosmetic benefits.
Gilead, however, was not only known for the balm it produced. It was also known as a place where people fled when they were in trouble. Jacob fled there when being pursued by the Philistines. And David fled there when being pursued by Absalom. Under Moses, it was declared a city of refuge.
O Beloved, as a child of God, where do you run in the time of trouble? Where is your city of refuge? Where is your Gilead?
Over and over again the psalmist describes the varied states of distress in which God's people found themselves. As you read, the tension build, relived only byt the words, "Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses" (Psal 107:13 nas).
Twice we read this phrase, and then we come to verse 17:"Fools, because of their rebellious way, and because of their iniquities, were afflicted. Their soul abhorred all kinds of food; and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble; He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them, And delivered them from their destructions". Psalm 107:17-20 NAS
There it is! The Word of God that can heal the soul. You--anyone--can be delivered from your pit of despair because there is a Balm in Gilead, there is a Great Physician there!
In Jeremiah's day God's people had committed two evils. First they had forsaken God, the fountain of living waters. Second, they had hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, which wouldn't hold water. In other words, they had turned from God and His ways to the flesh and its ways. They did not draw from Him that which is essential for life--living water.
A cistern is simply a place to store something, usually water. What you put into a cistern is what you get out of it. In contrast, a wellspring has an unseen source from which you draw. The people of Jeremiah's day had forsaken the fountain of living waters for broken cisterns which couldn't even hold water! We do the same thing when we turn from the Word of God to the counsel and wisdom of man for healing our hurts.
You can be healed if you will be healed His way. You can be healed if you will run to Calvary, your city of refuge. Remember, there is a Balm in Gilead and there is a Physician there.

Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be

saved, for you are the one I praise. --Jeremiah 17:14 NIV
There is healing through the blood of Christ and deliverance

for every captive. --Smith Wigglesworth"

"Some became fools through their

rebellious ways

and suffered affliction because of

their iniquities.

They loathed all food

and drew near the gates of death.

Then they cried to the Lord in

their trouble,

and he saved them from their distress.

He sent forth his word and healed

them; he rescued them from the grave.

Let them give thanks to the Lord

for his unfailing love

and his wonderful deeds for men.

Let them sacrifice thank offerings

and tell of his words with songs of joy." --NIV Psalm 107:17-22

This is what the Lord says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strenght or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the Lord. "The days are coming," declares the Lord, "when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh -- Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the desert in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart." --NIV Jeremiah 9:22-26