When It Finally Breaks Through

In the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, there is a scene that still undoes me. Will Hunting, played by Matt Damon, is a young man of staggering intellect but deep, unhealed wounds. Abused as a child, he has built walls so thick that no one can reach him. His therapist, Sean Maguire, played by Robin Williams, has spent weeks slowly earning his trust. Then comes the moment.

Sean looks at Will and says simply, "It's not your fault." Will shrugs it off. "Yeah, I know." Sean says it again. "It's not your fault." Will stiffens. Sean keeps going, gently, relentlessly. Five times. Six. Seven. Will tries to deflect, to joke, to push back, until finally the words break through every wall he has built, and he collapses into Sean's arms, sobbing like the wounded child he has always been underneath.

That is how the Healer works. God does not force the door open. He stands and knocks. He speaks the same truth over us again and again through scripture, through prayer, through the patient love of His people, until one day it finally gets past our defenses. "By His wounds you are healed," the prophet wrote. Not by your striving. Not by your performance.

Some of you have been white-knuckling it for years, insisting you are fine. The Great Physician is still in the room, still speaking. Let Him in.