Episode 5: Love heals all wounds- So Why Am I Still Hurting?

 

Episode 5: Love Heals All Wounds- So Why Do I Still Hurt and What do I do? 

For your listening enjoyment go to JesusRx Prescription for Life Podcast

When you get a cut, depending on how deep it is and your body's ability to heal, you usually get a scar. Some scars are deep and remain dark. Usually, they get lighter over time, and with some help, like vitamin E, collagen, or massage, the scar may disappear. With God’s love, this happens; scars become lighter, invisible, and some you may never see or feel again.

I still have scars on my body from childhood. The biggest, ugliest scar is the one on my right side, where my appendix was removed about 55 years ago. I also have a very light scar on both knees. I wiped out on my bike about 58 years ago. I was rounding a corner, water was in the road, my tire slid, and I went down. That scar was pretty yucky. I remember picking at the scab for several weeks. GROSS.

I’m pretty sure I broke my pinky in 6^th grade. When placing my hand down on a table, it never lays flat. I loved roller skating; the neighborhood kids would get together and race. Why we never raced in the street, I don’t know. We lined up on a sidewalk just wide enough to stand next to each other, let alone try to out skate each other. As we started, my skate caught on my competitors, and BAM..down I went. Thankfully, my right hand took the brunt of the fall. I never said anything to my mom until 2 days later when, at school, someone touched my hand, and the pain was so bad I started crying. Mom took me to the doctor, and they said I had a lot of bruising, so much they could not see to the bone, but it would heal. It did, crooked. It still works like the other pinky but doesn’t look the same. God can use you and whatever ministry he has called you to; it won’t look like anyone else’s because it’s not supposed to. He can work with us, make any crooked way in us straight, and use us. No one would ever know about my pinky unless I tell them…well, now I just told a bunch of you. People won’t know and sometimes don’t need to know things about you until God wants it revealed. He wants you to use your gifts and what He has given you for His Glory and watch the joy you receive!

These incidents are things that I remember, and unless I get dementia, I will never forget them. What I described is not horrible or tragic, as some of the things you may have experienced physically or emotionally have left a deep, ugly scar. I am not here to compare our scars or hurts; that’s not the job God has given me. It is to tell you that no matter what that hurt or scar is in your life, God sees it, knows it, and cares about not just it…He CARES ABOUT YOU. WHY DOES HE CARE ABOUT YOU? BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU? WHY DOES HE LOVE YOU? BECAUSE THAT IS HIS NATURE…TO LOVE.

After the pain subsides, scars remain. His love remains. We talked about that in our previous episodes. His love never leaves you. Even when we inflict pain upon ourselves or others, and God opens our hearts and eyes to those things causing harm, we need to go to Him, recognize and take responsibility for them, and give them to God. We all do foolish things from time to time in our lives. God knew we would. He sent Jesus for us fools, and I am so glad He did. I’m a fool for Jesus, and that is the best kind of foolishness there is. Check this out: in 1 John 2:12 it says I write to you dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name…who’s name….Jesus name.

God has seen your life, He knows your heart, He knows your hurts, and His Love is more robust and deeper than any wound and can cover you. He wants to set you free. He wants you and wants to keep you from the enemy who will try to kill, steal, and destroy what God has for you. God does not want you to live in the past, but it is good to remember where we came from and be thankful for where God has and will be taking you as you walk with Him.

Pain can make us stuck and unable to move forward. Physical pain can paralyze us at times, just as emotional pain does. God sees your affliction, has the remedy, and wants you to turn to Him.

Psalm 31:6-8 says I hate those who cling to worthless idols; I trust in the Lord. I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul. You have not handed me over to the enemy but have set my feet in a spacious place.

Come to God with and in your affliction. When you do that, you can begin to rejoice, knowing he knows, knowing He will put your feet in a spacious place.

I’m hoping you can relate to this about a spacious place. I know some of you may not go to the gym, but for us gym rats, you will totally understand.  I have gone to several different gyms. Some are more crowded with equipment than others and come crowded with people.  I started at a new gym, and wow, was it tight between the equipment? I was feeling a bit constricted in my space. I went to lie down on a bench to do an exercise, and as I bent down, I slightly….thank God it was slight. I bumped my head on a racked barbell. There is no real spacious place in that gym. I can work out, being extra careful of everything around me. I am not at ease or feel relatively free in that space. You may not feel at ease or free in your affliction. Even in your affliction, God wants to set you up in a spacious place. You are free to go to Him with ANYTHING. He is there, He will love you through it, IF YOU LET HIM.. He doesn’t want anything to bind you…especially sin. He doesn’t want past hurts to bind you. He has a purpose for you, and although scars remain, He will use you, scars and all.  Just keep giving Him any remaining hurts…that’s what you do. If the amount of love you have received hasn’t done it, it will!! Stay faithful.

 We all need God's protection. This world is full of dangerous things. We can be like David when we are scared and unsure of what may happen to us. I love this Psalm because even though David was uncertain of what would happen to him next, he was hiding in a cave. Hiding for his life against Saul, what he was SURE OF was God’s love and faithfulness. You can be sure of it, too.

Listen to this:

I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills His purpose for me. He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends His love and His faithfulness. This is Psalm 57:2-3

In the previous episodes of the podcast, we talked about God’s unfailing love. The first chapter in the JesusRx Prescription for Life workbook covers this information. You can find where to get the book at my website, evapopek.com

God's love is healing. What Jesus did on the cross shows us that we have a love like no other.

I want to pray this prayer over you from Ephesians 3:17b-19

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ and to KNOW THIS LOVE THAT SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fulness of God.

Whatever remaining hurt you have, continue to give it to God. The enemy may have tried and will continue to try to use your past hurts against you. Know that God's love allows the scarring and wants to use it for His Glory! What the enemy meant for evil, God can use it for good! LET HIM!!!

In our next episode, we will share more love! Be healthy and stay in His Word.