Living your wounds

One of the things I know as a pastor is this:

We have all been wounded.

 

We are the "walking wounded" if you will (some call this Jacob's limp - we all, to a certain extent walk with a limp).

 

And here's what I also know:  the more you open yourself to being healed, the more you will discover just how deep your wounds really are.

 

As you reach for healing, you begin to discover the layers of hurt that are there as well as uncovering other wounds as well.

 

That can be discouraging.

 

It can lead to tears and times of despair.

 

But I want to encourage you today. 

 

Do not be afraid.  Do not walk in fear.

 

The simple fact that you are more aware of your wounds shows that you have sufficient strength to face them.

 

Awareness if the key.  Blasting away denial, you realize with a Holy Spirit realization that the wounds are real - they are there and no amount of ignoring them with bring healing.

 

Can I give you a challenge today?

 

Live your wounds instead of thinking them through.

 

I would suggest to you (I quote Henri Nouwen here), "that it is better to cry than to worry, better to feel  your wounds deeply than to understand them, better to let them enter into your silence than to talk about them."

 

Are you taking your wounds to your head or to your heart?

 

When we quarantine our wounds to our head (our thought processes) we can analyze them, try to figure out their cause and effect and speak in Christian clichés.

 

Yet, no ultimate healing will come from these sources.

 

We need to let our wounds go down into our heart - and in so doing you live through them and discover that your wounds will not overwhelm you or destroy you.

 

Your heart (with the Holy Spirit in you) is greater than your wounds.

 

This process, however, is not easy.  We want to know the "why", the "when", the "how" and the "by whom," don't we.

 

Yet as you trust in God - God will help you understand that all of those questions are valid - but the most important thing is embracing your wound in your heart - and letting God walk you though to victory.

 

Isaiah 43:1,2,3 tells us, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire,  you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.  For I am the Lord, your God."

 

Victory is yours today!

 

Just a thought for a Thursday.