• Uncover The Wounds

    By: Kristen L. McNulty



    A few years ago I had an accident at home that involved dropping a cast iron pot on my foot. After that pot hit my foot, pain was so excruciating that I could barely breathe and I was convinced I had broken something, likely more than one thing. After arriving at the hospital my mom kept bugging me to take my sock off so she could see how bad it was, but it was the last thing I wanted to do. Even though I felt pain that was mind blowing I didn't want to see how bad it was, so I left it on until the last moment possible when the doctor asked me to. And let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. But it was necessary so that he could get an idea of what was wrong.

    I think that often in life we act like I did then. Not necessarily with physical pain, but with the emotional pain we carry and most of us do carry some. We feel the pain, we know that something is definitely wrong, but because we don't want ourselves or others to see how bad it is, we continue to cover it up. Some people cover the pain with substances like drugs or alcohol. Some try to cover it with one relationship after another and cycle through a lot of people, each one only adding to the brokenness when they leave or are walked away from. Others laugh it off and mask the pain with a smile. We all have our ways of sending the message to ourselves and the outside world that everything is fine while inside we feel like we are bleeding and some cases dying.

    If this is the place that you find yourself in, let me tell you, you don't need to stay here! God loves you so much and He wants to heal you! Psalm 147:3 tells us that God "heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds."

    This isn't some abstract verse, this is a promise for you! God will heal you and bandage your wounds. But you have to let Him. You could live your whole life laughing and partying and playing church and giving little thought to your pain unless something's wrong or you find yourself alone and awake in the middle of the night. Or you could do something much better and that is take off whatever it is you cover your hurt with, show it to God and ask Him to heal it. Because God will never force Himself on you. Events in our lives can force your wound to the surface, but God will only step in when you invite Him to.

    So today I urge you, extend that invitation. Stop pretending everything is okay and ask God for His help. You are not beyond repair! God can do His work to create in you a beautiful masterpiece if you'll allow Him to. So bring the wound to Him and while you're at it, stop hiding it from others. Often one of the greatest things God sends our way to help us heal is other people and we can only truly have deep relationships that bring healing when we stop hiding ourselves from others. It was C.S. Lewis who wrote that: ""Friendship is born at the moment when one person says to another: 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'"

    God can heal you and God can change you. There is hope and life for you.

    As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

    No matter who you are or what you've done, that is true for you. God loves you and He's waiting to heal you, will you uncover the wounds and let Him?

    Reprint rights available on request. Email the author at kristenmcnulty@hotmail.com.

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