Healing in the Hurt: Turning to Our Savior

We’ve all been there. Felt the sting of rejection, the pain of unkind words or actions towards us and sometimes the let down of what others don’t say to us/about us.

We all feel hurt from time to time.

I think as women, it’s especially easy to get our feelings hurt. We (not speaking for all women, but many) tend to be more sensitive to others’ words and actions. The way people approach us and treat us tends to affect us and leave us a little more vulnerable.

Being married to my husband has really opened me up to some of the differences in how we handle and process hurt. My husband is far more resilient than I and can let others’ negative words and actions towards him, just sort of bounce off. It’s not that he’s not emotional at all, it’s just that he sees the bigger picture of life a little more clearly than I. He knows that God’s view of him is far more important than what any person may think about him.

That’s the standard I want to live by as well. I want to turn my hurt to the Lord and let Him completely heal it. He always will too, because He cares about us and wants us to see ourselves the way He does.

Leave Past Hurts In the Past

I remember experiencing hurt from the time I was little. My parents’ divorce. Feeling stuck in the middle of too many arguments. Rejection from peers in school. There was a lot of words and actions from others that I had no control over, and sometimes the hurt hit me squarely.

As I got older, there were still hurts in my life. Peer pressure, rejection from boys, rejection from sports I played, issues with family and friends, etc. Now, as I’m well into adulthood, I realize hurts are still there. They change, but they’re always present.

The only difference is now I have an intimate relationship with the Lord.

We can’t control what others say and do, or the circumstances that sometimes occur in our lives. What we can control, however, is what we do with the hurt we experience. Sure, it’s easy to hold on to it (I’m the queen of this) and press it deep within us, trying to hide it. But, we all know that doesn’t help anything at all. Nor does it help to blame or feel bitter towards others that may hurt us.

We have to just let go.

God knows when we’re hurt and never shames us or makes us feel little for hurt we experience. His desire is to take it from us and heal our hearts. God replaces our hurt with his overwhelming love, and helps us feel worthy again. All the past hurt we’ve experienced, we can simply give over to God and leave it in the past. Where it rightly belongs.

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” -Psalm 147:3 NIV

The Process of Healing

I believe the best way for us to heal when we’re hurting is to remember who we are in Christ. When we’ve been rejected, treated poorly, criticized, etc., we tend to start believing those hurtful lies about ourselves. Our view and self-worth begins to reflect what others say about us, and not what God says about us.

God, however, wants to step in and remind us of exactly who we are. He wants His truth to far outweigh any lies that come our way.

His Word says the following about who we are:

• We are CHOSEN – “For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him.” -Ephesians 1:4
• We are REDEEMED – “He gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for himself a people for his own possession, eager to do good works.” -Titus 2:14
• We are SET APART – “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be mine.” -Leviticus 20:26
• We are FORGIVEN – “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” -Psalm 103:12
• We are LOVED – “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” -1 John 4:10

When we start falling in that trap of believing lies about ourselves, we must turn to God’s Word and remember who we are in Him. If we really pray over it and trust in His truth, we will start believing it. Our hearts will then begin to heal and the hurt we encountered will soon fade away.

“Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight.” -Psalm 119:143 ESV

In the Hurt, Turn to Him

The circumstances we face in life are many times, unavoidable and unpredictable. They can sometimes leave us hurting and broken, but we don’t have to stay that way. We have a Healer who is always there for us and always desires to speak His healing truth over us.

It’s okay to feel hurt and sad about situations we face, but we must remember how to move on from it. Our ultimate hope is in the Lord, and His love and light will always lead us out of any hurt we experience. His words are healing for our soul and He restores and repairs our hearts when they’re wounded and broken.

“He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” -Psalm 23:3 ESV

What a great gift it is to have a Father who loves us so deeply and sees us exactly as we are. He brings life to the lifeless and creates peace and restoration in our souls.

People will let us down, reject us, speak lies to us and truly hurt us. It’s the nature of being surrounded by lost and imperfect people. Thankfully though, we have a perfect and loving God who wants to speak only truth to us, lift us up, restore us and heal us completely when we’re hurting. Let’s trust in His power to do that, and hand over all the hurt we may be facing.

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise.” -Jeremiah 17:14 ESV

 

Thanks for reading my latest post! Please leave me a comment about a time when God completely healed you from your hurt. I’d love to hear from you!