OUCH!
Have you ever been hurt by someone? What a stupid question. Of course you have. It’s part of being human. Whether it’s intentional or not, others have a way of sending a stinging arrow straight into our hearts. It’s especially hard when it comes from someone we care deeply about.
I’m writing about this now because it just happened to me. And it’s fresh. My first reaction is to strike back, to make them know they hurt me. My second is to wallow in self-pity. But I know what I need to do. Run straight into the arms of the Comforter.
God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Creator, King, Counselor, and Comforter; all one and the same. He is always present and always waiting for me, His child.
What I’m writing applies to you if you’ve said that ultimate, big “YES” to Him. That “yes” that recognizes you are a sinner like the rest of us and there’s nothing you can do on your own to be good enough. That “yes” that accepts what Jesus did on the cross for you. It’s a free gift, folks! That “yes” to Jesus to be your Savior and your Lord for eternity.
And when you do… WOW! A whole new life begins! The Holy Spirit will actually take up residence in you! You will become a temple for Him.
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
Does this mean we’ll never be tempted, never sin and never hurt again? Absolutely not. We are still fully human with the full gamut of human weaknesses and human emotions. And some of us have been blessed and cursed with an overabundance of emotions. I’m one of them and I really don’t think it’s a curse. It just feels like it at times.
What do we do with these hurt feelings? I am discovering, that for me, I need to allow myself to feel it deeply. Not wallow in self-pity. Not get angry or bitter or vengeful. Just feel it for what it is. Then allow it to do a Holy work in me. That’s a strange concept for most of us, I realize. But at this very moment God is teaching me something new. And wonderful. And healing.
That hurt I felt an hour ago is gone. God used that hurt to cause me to feel deep compassion for other hurting people. People I know and also total strangers whose names appeared on my Facebook page “The Crazy Crooked Path” because they liked one of my posts. I sat at my kitchen counter and prayed and wept for them. And in that weeping for others, my heart was healed.
If we never experience hurt, how can we possibly understand someone else’s hurt? How can we truly care about them? In my weak humanness, I’d prefer never hurting again. But God needs to grow me into a person that can be used. A person that can cry with others. A person that can offer comfort. A person that can pray for others with genuine compassion.
And, in case you’re wondering, the person that caused hurt in me today loves me and would never intentionally hurt me. We will work it out. It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last because our lives are so intimately woven together. It happens.
(Have you guessed yet that it’s my dear sweet husband? The person that also brings me the greatest joy. It’s funny how that works. Those closest to us are also the ones that have the greatest capacity to hurt us. Just to make up for using him in this blog, I’ll add that he’s my biggest supporter, my sounding board, my best friend, and after God, my best comforter and counselor. He’s a very good man with a lot of wisdom. And did I mention that I’m still madly in love with him?)
I guess the bottom line is this: After that ultimate “YES” where you surrender to Jesus, then continue to say “yes” to Him every day of your life. Even in the midst of hurt.
Dare to feel it! Fearlessly allow God to grow you through it.
Then lavishly pour out God’s comfort on to others.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)
