Hurts and Hurting
I don’t think there’s anyone in the history of mankind who understands loss, pain, injustice, shame, harassment… pain as much as our Lord Jesus Christ.
His journey to the cross. He was on His throne, faithful to the Father, pure and perfect, holy and graceful. Innocent of every wrong. Yet the monster of sin demanded to be fed with afflictions and chastisement for the repayment of the sins of not one man but of the world and so the one who was most Holy and whole was put down and broken. So our Lord Jesus was afflicted, put to shame, accused, kicked around and made to bleed despite His innocence and perfect goodness.
“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin…” 2 Cor. 5:21
Dear reader, have you been wronged? Have you been hurt in one manner or the other? Have you lost a dear one? Have you experienced some form of unjust pain? Then you will find that beyond the condolences of men, beyond the words of comfort that men offer, you will find that Jesus Christ very much relates to what you are going through. He very much understands the intricacies of the grieve in your heart. He knows the weight of your tears. He hears the scream in your silence. You will find that you have a ready listener, you have a compassionate audience, you have an understanding comrade. So go to Him because He cares. Cry before Him in silence because He hears, ask the questions that your grieve demands because he knows how to answer, speak the words to him because he understands. He relates, let Him in.
Doesn’t it feel lighter when you share a burden? Isn’t there more ease when you don’t have to do it alone? So is the case when you don’t have to bear pain alone. Now you can breathe easy. There is Help. You have to know that the ‘help’ that Jesus offers comes in different dimensions. You see, if the pain comes as mighty waves, crashing against your emotions, intellect, body. In this case, His help comes as a surf board, strong enough to bear you above the tides and back to shore. In whatever form the pain may come, in whichever direction or velocity, you have the help that you need to ride its waves and stay grounded. So its okay, cry your eyes out, sit and stare in silence. Speak the words that you have to, ask the questions that you need to, just stay connected to Him, Be aware of His presence, as He has said, “I’ll never leave you nor forsake you.” His hand will do the rest.
“…For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Hebrews 13: 5
You might ask that “but what does it mean to stay grounded? Why do I need to stay grounded?” Staying grounded means not downing, not being destroyed. Instead you must heal, we must fill all the blanks with love. Staying grounded means staying whole. This translates to many different things for different people. For you it might be not falling into depression, anxiety, anger, hopelessness and all the other emotional vultures flying around. This is important because your life consists of more than this pain, your life consists of more than you, your journey still has many roads to be scaled, your life still has many tales to be told. Therefore you must be whole.
Now that you understand help, we must speak of healing. You see, scars are trophies of healing but to be destroyed means to be permanently indented. Indentations are blank pockets that are in danger of being filled with dirt, hate, self pity… causing even more damage. First, you should know that your healing began as soon as you held His hand, such as when there is a wound on your leg, the moment you put the salve, pain might still be felt but the healing has begun. But now we must channel more energy into the process. This will require some faith, but don’t worry, its simple, you have help with that too.
At this point, there are a few considerations you must allow to overwhelm your thoughts. The first is that of His immense love.
“…I have loved you with an everlasting love, I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV).
The second is that of your position with Christ, what you mean to Him and what He has said He will do in your life. The third is of His faithfulness.
To consider well, we must again go back to His words that we started with “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.
Many challenges, difficulties, circumstances might face the believer, some might even seem as though they are about to swallow you whole but at every second, minute, hour, day, year…in every moment, this word remains constant, as the sky. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Again you might say, “but it was my fault, I caused this mess…, I should have known better… I should have seen it coming…there’s no going back from this, I should have…” Well my dear, you must know that even when you are silly, unkind, proud or disobedient. He always stays true, so it doesn’t matter. Such is His word, faithful even when we are not. Let your heart savor these words: “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.
Another important consideration we must approach, is of the Father’s words:
“Nay, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Romans 8:37.
We live in a world with many systems, principles and people that are not in alignment with the desires and principles of God. These systems are those of darkness unto death. Imagine a large field with land mines arranged on it in the pattern of a maze. Such is the world in which we live. You see, those mines explode with every wrong step, some are even thrown without the steps. As believers, the Holy Spirit guides us that we may glide through the field gracefully and beautifully. In this procession, we might still step on the land mines for one reason or the other but our bearing is such that we have become indestructible by these devices. In fact we have such fortification that the technology of the greatest of these mines cannot breach. How? Because we put on Christ, our bulletproof. We are standing with Him shielded. Because we are now of God, the One who is above all. So your physical eyes might say “Oh my suit is burning” but look closely Dear one, your skin is un-singed, impenetrable. That is what we have come into. “more than conquerors”
This is healing, beholding love and faithfulness of your keeper. The woes of this world may come but we are no more victims. We are now of a new breed.
What to do in the midst of pain and grief:
- Stay in His presence.
- Talk to Him about the situation
- Focus on His love,
- Focus on His faithfulness
- Know that you are not victim to the woes of this world.
Playlist: Highs and Lows — Hillsong Young & Free
