For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isaiah 41:13. In Genesis 33 Jacob finally reunites with Esau. Seeing him with 400 men riding toward him, Jacob divided his wives and children behind him. He had no idea what this encounter would bring. The pain of knowing he had deceived his brother and that his brother had wanted to kill him must have still resided in Jacob’s heart. There is so much pain in the human heart buried from years of pain we inflicted on others or from pain they inflicted on us. That pain creates barriers and walls and burdens of grudges and even hate.

Fortunately, the decades apart had changed the dynamic Jacob remembered so painfully. He himself went on ahead and bowed down to the ground seven times as he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept. v. 4. Can you imagine the relief, the healing and thankfulness they both must have experienced? Jacob brought gifts for Esau but the greatest gift was the love he found again with his brother. “If I have found favor in your eyes, accept this gift from me. For to see your face is like seeing the face of God, now that you have received me favorably.” v. 10.

That’s the healing God alone can bring. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3. When we forgive and love it’s like seeing the face of God. Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:1-5.

However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” – the things God has prepared for those who love him (Isaiah 64:4) – these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:9-10. Our minds can’t conceive of that kind of love that heals every hurt, every pain no matter how big or small but we can see a glimpse of that tremendous love in the reunion of Jacob and Esau. We will experience that love in God’s Kingdom because God is love (1 John 4:7). Jacob and Esau had a taste of that wonderful love that heals and it was like seeing the face of God. For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.