And where is God in all this hurt for He does understand hurt and pain.

Hurting, Healing and Hope

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

                Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent and is a

reminder of who we are –dust and to dust we shall return. In this time we are invited to look inwardly and take this time for self-evaluation. It is also a time to focus on one’s faith journey with God and to begin a reflective journey with Jesus in the desert. It is also a time to renew faith as you remember Jesus’ Passion. And to look within to see the hurts of the past caused by others, and to see the hurt around which you have caused others to be.

                As we look at ourselves we might ask, how have we been hurt by others? How do we hurt others? And where is God in all this hurt for He does understand hurt and pain.

                “Scripture declares that the primary wound affecting all of us is spiritual and is self-inflicted. We have all fallen to sin as humans under physical, mental and spiritual aspects. Physically we can be hurt by machine, microbes and other sources. Mentally, we might see our sin in the flaws of human reasoning. Spiritually we have turned away from God and often this leads to being hurt again and again.

                Often when people are hurting they use anger to disguise and deflect their guilt and grief. Anger provides an illusion of personal power that may temporarily block feelings of confusion and helplessness that commonly result from painful personal crises. But just because we understand a behaviour it does not make it acceptable. There is something better and it is wisdom.

Proverbs 14:8   The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to they ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

Deception flows in two directions inward and outward—convincing ourselves and other that we are strong and invincible instead of weak, wounded and easily hurt.

 Psalm 139:23-24   Search me, O God and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

The psalmist asks God to search his heart to see if there is any hurtful/ wicked/ offensive way within. (different translations for ‘hurt’) yet all three describe a manner of life that is potentially harmful to self and others. How might you ask God in this?

Question for Reflection:

Have you ever been the target of hurtful words? Have you ever said such words?

What occurred after these situations? Do you thin wounding others comes as a result from being wounded and not ‘owning’ them?

In this Season of Lent—look at the wounds you have, and what you have done to hurt others.

Prayer: God please continue to teach us to value self-awareness and inner honesty as much as your Word reveals that you do. Give us the wisdom to know if today is one of those times when we each need to pay special attention to the wounds we cannot see especially in those that wound people close to us. Amen.

Resource:  Dr. Sandra D Wilson, Hurt People Hurt People, Discovery House Publishers, 2001.