Wounds

He was bruised for our transgression and pierced for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him and By His stripes we were healed. Is. 53:5

            No one likes to hurt and we avoid it whenever possible. It is a basic instinct. My friend works in a vet clinic. She says that many times when an animal is hurt it will either shy away from someone trying to help it or turn on them in anger. We do the same things, but pretend that we don’t. While working in the nursing home I saw people who had wounds that had healed on the outside. The skin looked healthy, but underneath, the wound was still raw and often infected. The tissue under the skin can deteriorate and even die. No healing can take place while the wound is covered over. The doctor has to re-open the wound and dig out the dead tissue. Then the wound is packed and treated with antibiotic and other things to help it heal from the inside out. The doctor must also continually clean the wound and remove dead tissue until it is completely healed.

            As Christians, we do not want to show our hurts. Unfortunately, we are often justified, because like pack dogs who smell blood, other Christians are prone to key into our hurts and prod at them.  To avoid this we put on our Happy Church Face and say, “Praise the Lord, I’m fine!” There is a place for confessing positive things as we read in Proverbs 18:21. However, there is also a place for being honest with God and our brothers and sisters.

            We went on retreat with our ladies’ group and the first thing I saw when we got there was a sign that said, “Be still and know that I am God.” Ps 46:10. I have a real love/hate relationship with that verse, usually depending on whether I am doing what it says or not.  I realized that I had been running really fast and staying busy so I did not feel my pain.   I cried and cried and admitted to God that I was really hurting and didn’t know what to do. Once I made that step, He started putting the other pieces in place, from songs that were just what I needed to hear to encouraging words and just a sense of His presence. Just before we left for the night, someone said, “If you need to pray for emotional healing, stay and let us pray with you.” With my eyes feeling gritty from the tears there was no use in pretending I didn’t need to be prayed for and God met me where I was and started to heal some deep wounds. It is a process and forgiving the “wounders” is not easy or fast, but I have a time and place to look back to and say, “This is when I chose to start forgiving them.”

            What did I have to do to receive healing? First I had to acknowledge my hurt and my need. In Revelation 3, Jesus says to the church at Laodicea, “You say, ‘I am rich and have need of nothing.’ You do not realize that you are pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire…white clothes to wear… and salve for your eyes. Second, I had to believe that Jesus could heal my wounds. Among many other things, Isaiah 53 tells us that by his stripes (the wounds he received) we are healed. That includes physical, spiritual and emotional wounds. Finally I had to allow Him access to my wounds and not recoil or attack like a wounded animal. He is able and he is willing. Drop the Happy Church Face and let the Great Physician touch the broken places in you.

I look forward to bringing you post from guest writers starting Thursday. The writers lined up have encouraging and relevant information for you.

Feedback: How do you react when you are wounded?