Are You Living With Emotional Pain?
Often times, the first thing I grab when one of my kids get hurt, whether it’s a bee sting, burn, accidental biting of the tongue, or a hard fall that results in a bump or bruise, is some ice out of the freezer. Ice does something wonderful…it cools the skin and numbs the pain. It also slows blood flow to the cold area which reduces swelling. Pain isn’t something anyone of us wants to experience…it’s our natural tendency to do whatever we can to quickly numb the pain or at least lessen the pain if possible.
Physical injuries typically recover quickly…God made our bodies with this amazing ability to heal itself. But there is another kind of pain, which penetrates so deep, that many carry with them for life…the pain of rejection. During a recent text message with a friend of mine she said these words, “As a mother I have to really push through hatred, for my kids sake, against their dad…for the pain he has caused all of us.” About 4 years ago her husband walked away from their marriage for a much younger woman. The pain of rejection can be so intense, so suffocating, so debilitating, so consuming, and so crippling. And it’s something every one of us experience, to various degrees, at one point or another in our life.
I recently read a book called Uninvited: Living Loved When You Feel Less Than, Left Out, and Lonely. In it, author Lysa Terkeurst says these profound words about the pain of rejection, “If we place our hope and our future in the hands of an unchanging, unflinching God, who never leaves us nor forsakes us – we’ll find healing and freedom. We’ll be able to see something on the other side of the pain, something good, something we’ll know will be so worth whatever it takes to get well. So instead of running from the pain we embrace it as necessary. We must feel the pain to heal the pain. If we never allow ourselves to feel it, we won’t acknowledge its there. Pain isn’t the enemy. Pain is the indicator that brokenness exists. Pain is the reminder that the real enemy is trying to take us out, bring us down by keeping us stuck in broken places. Pain is the gift that motivates us to fight with brave tenacity and fierce determination, knowing there’s healing on the other side. Pain is the invitation for God to move in and replace our faltering strength with his. We must invite God into our pain to help us survive the desperate in-between. The only other choice is to run from the pain by using some method of numbing. Numbing the pain never goes to the source of the issue to make us healthier it only silences our screaming need for help. In reality, what numbs us imprisons us. If we avoid the hurt, the hurt creates a void in us. Pain is an indication that a transformation is needed. There is a weakness where new strength needs to enter in. So don’t berate yourself for being in pain, it just means you are walking toward victory by not numbing yourself right now. You are making progress. You aren’t going to be stuck in this, you are going to be strengthened by it, healed from it, and better off because of it.”
So what is the remedy for, the all too often, unbearable, life-shattering pain, that no amount of ice will remedy? How can a person move toward healing after encountering the deepest of rejection? How can one inhale fresh air again instead of feeling like they are suffocating? Is it possible to live life fully once again when the deepest parts of their soul aches and feels so empty?
The answer isn’t to numb the pain…you must feel the pain and you must turn the pain over to Jesus. Inviting his PRESENCE and the TRUTH of HIS WORD into every corner of your life, where the enemy has saturated you with lie upon lie, as a result of rejection. This is the only real and lasting remedy. His words breath life, fill those empty places, give strength, heal, restore, deliver, and lead to a beautiful new place in life…one you are so thankful to have arrived to, but the path to get there is never one you would have chosen on your own.
Deuteronomy 31:6,”So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Psalm 27:10, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”
Psalm 91: 1-2, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. This I declare about the Lord. He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God”
Question:
Are you presently walking the difficult road of rejection? Or perhaps as you look back upon your life there is a theme of rejection all throughout. Rejection that has left behind scars unimaginable. Jesus knows and understands your rejection…please pray these words:
Prayer: Lord, the pain of my rejection has stifled my life in so many ways. I have done everything possible to numb the pain, stuff it down, ignore it, and suppress it because it’s too much to bare. But today I am choosing to feel the pain and begin the journey of healing the pain. I’m tired of feeling imprisoned to it…I am ready to embrace this pain, and with your help, to experience transformation in my life. You are my refuge, my shelter, my place of safety and I look to you to pour out healing in my life. Breathe life once again into the void, empty, lifeless, broken, numb, desperate, dead places of my soul. Turn, what the enemy has tried to use to cripple me, into something good, useful, and beautiful. Thank you for being so faithful in my life. In the powerful name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Next Steps: Request a Counselor Referral…https://hisheartfoundation.org/request-a-counselor-referral/
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