From Hurt to Healed
"For I will restore health to you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord..."
- Jeremiah 30:17
For many of us when we think hurt and healing the first image that comes to mind may be a physical injury.
The problem with conjuring up that image is that the majority of the injuries found in the world go beyond the physical realm to those things that cannot be physically touched - the emotional and the spiritual.
There are still too many of us walking around in an unhealthy emotional and/or spiritual state.
The Word of God is filled with scriptures that tell us that we are healed. However, as is true for all the other Bible promises we encounter in the scripture we must choose to believe it and stand on it.
God wants to love us back to life. That's why He sent His Son to die for us because we were slaves to sin, dead in sin and Jesus died that He might love us back to life, back to right-standing with God.
So what happens after salvation?
Aren't we still struggling with emotional hurt and spiritual damage? Yes we are - in fact it doesn't get any easier after you receive Christ, it gets harder but be encouraged because that means you're doing something right!
Someone may think that's well and good that I'm on track but how do I deal with the emotional baggage and the spiritual strain?
You trust God.
Trust God to do what He said He would do.
The Bible says that by the stripes of Jesus Christ we are healed. We are healed already we now have to believe that we are healed even when our emotions and situations dictate otherwise.
God needs to have the final authority and final word in our lives and if He says we're healed and that He would heal our wounds we must believe Him.
If we can trust God to give us eternal life by forgiving us of all our sin why can't He heal emotional hurt?
Why can't He severe spiritual soul ties that seem too be dragging you down?
He can!
Believe it or not some people enjoy walking around with hurt in their hearts.
Why?
Because they think it gives them an excuse to do the things they do.
There's a saying "Hurt people hurt people" and unfortunately sometimes when people hurt someone else instead of owning up to their action they simply blame it on their own hurt from the past. Some Christians enjoy playing the
victim
role and they so quickly forget that God has promised us
victory!
You can't be victorious and be a victim at the same time.
In this life there's no getting around being hurt but you can be an overcomer and allow God to heal you and restore your emotional and spiritual health.
"I may have some scars...I am healed...circumstances...I'm still healed...disappointments...I am healed, with His stripes I am healed!" - Donald Lawrence, song, I am Healed
Being healed does not mean that your life will be free of scars, circumstances or disappointments but it does mean that God will give you the grace to overcome all those things.
Forgiveness plays a huge role in cases of emotional hurt.
People carry around hurt, bitterness, and resentment because they can't bring themselves to forgive someone in their past who has hurt them. This is where people have to choose.
What do you want more?
Healing or Hurt.
In cases where a person has wronged you healing must start with forgiveness. True forgiveness is when you can love that person as if they never hurt you.
Does that mean you forget they hurt you? Maybe not. But even if you remember you must deny your natural desire to want to hold it against them and love them anyway.
Can all hurt be healed? Yes, to a certain extent. Sometimes we are forced to remember our hurt and in that case it maybe a part of the cross we must carry.
Jesus said "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me" (Luke 9:23).
What if you have to wake up every morning beside the person who hurt you the most because you are married to them?
What if the person that hurt the most turns out to be flesh of your flesh, the child you give birth to that you see everyday?
What if it turns out to be your best friend on the job?
Or a family member you see every holiday?
Or an ex, that you still have to see at church?
Acknowledging your hurt or the person who hurt you may be the cross you have to take up daily, it may be the thorn in your flesh but there's good news.
God says His Grace is sufficient and His strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
The Apostle Paul had a thorn in his flesh and he didn't receive healing in the form of complete removal of the thorn but he did receive the strength to overcome it. Read his story
2 Cor. 12:1-10
Don't be satisfied with carrying hurt inside. Turn it over to God.
"There's healing for your sorrow, healing for your pain, healing for your spirit, there's shelter from the rain. Lord send Your healing, for this we know there is a balm in Gilead to heal the soul..." -Richard Smallwood, song, Healing
Even if this post helps no one else. It helps me. I've been hurt. But I am healed.
From hurt to healed. Don't just watch my transformation - join in.
Grace & Peace. Always.