Salt on an Open Wound

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3


There was a time in my life when a mixture of salt and water was the cure to everything. My dad would often bring me a glass when I had lost a tooth, caught a stomach bug, or cut my lip. When I was little, I did not realize that, upon taking a drink, the concoction would burn at the very touch, but as I grew older, I knew when I saw that golden Tupperware cup that I was in for some hurting.


I will admit that despite the burn, it was not long after drinking dad’s remedy that the cut or sore was almost completely healed. After running from him, I would complain for an hour about how bad it tasted and how angry I was that he had made me do such a thing. I never could understand that in the moments I swallowed the salt water, I was in a process of healing, and in time the awful taste it brought would be just a memory.


Since then, I have been made to drink that “salty water” again. The Lord has passed me a cup that I never want to drink from again. The sting from this wound feels as though it will never heal, and I am forced to feel the agony of when the salt hits the scar. This is a cut that is deeper than the surface of skin: the memory of a child.


For months I have been through the injuries and scar that losing a child leaves. I have ached upon hearing of others’ pregnancies and tasted the teardrops that this memory brings, none of which have felt as if my heart is mended. In fact, I recently ran from a friend that shared my due date as I saw her growing stomach among a crowd a people. My wound is still there.


It is easy to say we are past the hurts that lie within our hearts, but the truth is that we are allowed to hurt and to grieve. There are reasons for all of these as stated in Ecclesiastes 3:1, 3-4, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” God understands our sorrow, and He Himself knows our pain. Yet I cannot understand the immensity of His hurt as He allowed His only Son to die in my place on the cross (John 17).


I do not know what hurts you are holding onto, and I cannot understand what aches within your heart. However, I do know that if you will allow Him, God can pour salt into your wounds and heal you. Mark 9:50 states, “Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” If we are to be the “salt of the earth,” we must be more like Christ. When we face these circumstances, God is able to instill Christ-like characteristics in us as we draw closer to Him. Each moment is an opportunity for God to restore your injuries in a way that will glorify Him. Please do not step away from your Heavenly Father when He offers “a cup of salt and water”; He is making you new again.


Hurting yet Healing,
Jenna Johnson

Words of Encouragement Email: johnsonwordsofencouragement@gmail.com