Healing From Hidden Wounds

Have you ever been wounded with a knife, surgery, a broken bone, or some terrifying incident?  In the next few posts, I want to address the emotional wounds that we suffer instead of the physical ones. There are wounds from ridicule, destructive criticism, hatred, prejudice, abuse - physical, spiritual or sexual.  Two truths about life that we know:
A.) Everyone has a hidden wound (we might mask it but we have it).  
B.) Emotional wounds take longer to heal than physical ones.

The Good News is that Jesus wants to heal our hidden wounds and make us healthy.  God calls Himself, "Jehovah Rapha" in Exodus 15:26 - "The God who heals."  Psalm 147:3 says, "He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds."

Today, I will list the Destructive ways of healing hurts: (When we do these things, we make the hurt worse and force it to last longer than it has to)
1.) Ignoring the hurt and believing that it will just go away by itself - "When I refused to confess my sin, I was weak and miserable and I groaned all day long." Psalm 32:3
2.) Escaping from your hurt by self medicating with alcohol, sex, eating, watching tv, etc.  Psalm 55: 6-8 says, "how I wish I had wings like a dove; then I would fly far away and rest....How quickly I would escape - far from this wild storm of hatred."
3.) Worrying about the hurt.  Psalm 37:7 "Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for Him to act.  Don't worry about evil people who prosper or fret about their wicked schemes."
4.) Hiding your hurts - Psalm 32:5 "finally I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide them."
5) Resenting the hurts and blaming others - "I realized how bitter I had become, how pained I had been by all that I had seen.  I was so foolish and ignorant..." Psalm 73:21,22
6.) Giving up - Drifting into depression, a martyr complex, believing I am a victim and deciding to live with the constant ache of the wound. Psalm 130:1,2 - "From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.  Hear my cry, O Lord.  Pay attention to my prayer."

In the next post, I will give you 5 Biblical steps toward healing our hurt - health is on the way!  I don't want to leave you frustrated so I will give you the first step now and the others later.  Hint: these steps must be followed in order.

Step 1 - Reveal the Hurt - We will never receive healing until we face the hurt straight on.  We cannot stuff it!  Psalm 39:2,3 "When I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.  My heart grew hot within me; as I meditated, the fire burned; then I spoke with my tongue."  Holding onto anger or hurt is like carrying hot coals in your heart.  Pushing a hurt inside will make it fester.  If you are experiencing fatigue, check out your use of emotional energy right now to harbor resentment, grudges, grief or past hurts - that might be sapping the energy you could use for healing.  Be honest about your fear, pain, guilt, anger, abandonment, or abuse.  "Who can I be honest with?" is the key question. 
1. Be honest with yourself - acknowledge what it is and that it hurts.
2. Be honest with God - "Jesus, this is how I feel and this is why."  You won't surprise Him; He cares for you and loves you deeply.
3. Be honest with a person you can trust. Find a "safe" person who can keep confidences and who will not judge you or condemn you. Share your pain with them.

Look for Steps 2-4 next time

Experiencing His healing     ~   Bob