Hurtful Words and Healing Wings

A few mornings ago I read these words: “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.” (Malachi 4:2)

Doesn’t that sound great! Mind you, I have absolutely no personal experience with “calves skipping about from the stall” but the image that came to my mind was my kids’ response after I’ve told them they can have an extra snack, or that we’re going on vacation, or that bedtime has been canceled. Boy, do they skip!  Pure excitement. Pure joy. Pure relief. That is what Malachi, God’s chosen prophet in Jerusalem, was speaking of then to God’s chosen people and that same message is for each of us today.

This verse in Malachi really stood out to me because the last message I’d heard before going to bed was about the hurtful words of a celebrity tweeted over social media. Then, interestingly enough, the first thing I read after waking up the next morning was about the “healing wings” of a Savior.

Hmmm… from hurtful words to healing wings!

This stark contrast in experiences reminded me that while so many forms of and degrees of hurt are prevalent, such is also the case with healing.

We just have to read it. We have to tune in to it. You see, sin is rampant—the evil of another school shooting may be “up next in breaking news”; more injustice in a coffee shop may hit in the weeks to come; hurtful words are only one tweet away.

We get that.

The question is: Do we also get that a message of hope is not lost? The reality that forgiveness is a prayer away is only a passage away (Malachi 4:4-5). The promise of “showers of blessings” is a verse or two through the pages (Malachi 3:6-18). And yes, good news that one great day those “healing wings” are coming (Malachi 4:2) are at your fingertips.

The next time you go to bed with the burden of all that’s wrong with this world on your mind, open up God’s Word and be transformed as you remember that the sun will rise! It will be a burning fire that hurts those who chose evil but for those who trust in Him, hope will be fulfilled as healing radiates from its wings.

Go to bed with that promise on your mind and wake up with that message of hope in your heart. Before long we’ll be skipping about “like calves from the stall.”

 Pure excitement. Pure joy. Pure relief.