THE BIBLE OFFERS MANY EXAMPLES of emotional injury... and refers to it as a "WOUNDED" or "BROKEN" spirit. The book of Proverbs says...

"A GLAD HEART MAKES A CHEERFUL COUNTENANCE, BUT BY SORROW OF THE HEART THE SPIRIT IS BROKEN" (Proverbs 15:13).

"A MAN'S SPIRIT WILL ENDURE SICKNESS... BUT A BROKEN SPIRIT WHO CAN BEAR?" (Proverbs 18:14).

THE STORY OF KING SAUL'S DAUGHTER Michal clearly illustrates the pain of a "WOUNDED" OR "BROKEN" spirit. Michal was raised in an invironmnet charged with friction and conflict. Her father, an impatient, insecure man, often exploded in fits of anger. No doubt she was deeply affected by his wrath.

SAUL'S JEALOUSLY OF THE FUTURE of King David led him to devise a plot to kill him. As enticement, he offered one of his daughters as a prize to David if he could kill 100 of Israel's enemies... the Philistines. "Surely," thought Saul, "David will be killed by the Philistines and I can be rid of him forever!"

MUCH TO SAUL'S DISMAY, David succeeded. In fact, he killed 200 Philistines! Saul awarded Michal as a "prize," but David soon fled from another of Saul's fits of anger and left her behind. Several years later he returned and found Michal married to another man. Against the will of her and her new husband, he demanded her return. She was eventually torn from the arms of her weeping husband and forcefully returned to David (2 Samuel 3:13-16).

IT SEEMED THAT MICHAL WAS MOVED between the men in her life like a chess pawn in a chess game. Given her upbringing, it is understandable that she reacted to David with such bitterness. Her resentment exploded at the height of a victory celebration. Forgiveness was the medicine that could have brought healing, but she CHOSE not to grant it. She became a spiritual and physical mess, the rest of her life.

THERE ARE MANY MODERN-DAY MICHALS, with varying degrees of pain, but they don't have to end up like she did. Because of His Father Heart, God longs to renew and restore us through the healing power of His love.