The God Who Heals Our Hurts

Often times the most brutal and agonizing hurts in our lives are things that aren’t visible by looking directly at us. The things that hurt us the most could be kept a secret if you wanted to. It’s the hidden hurts; some memory of events or words of the past that still haunt us.

For some these may be memories of abandonment, for others abuse. Maybe it’s the pain of ridicule or criticism from someone whose affirmation you once sought.

Everyone has hidden hurts. Everyone has at least one emotional scar from the past.

The good news is that God wants to heal all of your hurts, even the ones that are hidden. And today is the day that you can begin that healing process!

Psalm 147:3 “God heals the brokenhearted…”

How To Begin The Healing Process

Step 1: Reveal My Hurt

Begin by being honest about what needs healing. You’re never going to experience the healing you’re looking for until you face your feelings. There is a real healing process that begins with confession and reflection. We need to be willing to articulate the ways that we have experienced hurt. The Bible talks about the problem of stuffing our pain down and not dealing with it.

Psalm 39:2-3 “I kept very quiet… but I became even more upset. I became very angry inside, and as I thought about it, my anger burned.”

Holding on to hurts is like carrying hot coals in your heart—you’re the one who’s going to get burned. When you stuff your hurts down, they don’t heal, they feaster and the wound gets worse. Not only does this prolong the pain but it stifles your energy and ability to move forward in life.

Psalm 32:3 “When I kept things to myself, I felt weak deep inside me. I moaned all day long.”

Honest With Who?

• First—Be honest with yourself.
• Second—Be honest with God.

God knows how you hurt. And He hurts with you. It’s not going to surprise God when you’re honest about the pain in your life.

He already knows. He already cares. He already loves you. He just wants you to be honest with Him.

• Third—Be honest with someone you trust.

God loves to use people to show His goodness and mercy. God also uses other people to speak truth into our lives when we need to start building a new strategy for success.

Being honest, revealing your hurt, is the first step in the healing process.

Step 2: Release Those Who Hurt Me

One of the most difficult decisions you have to make in life is:

“Do I want to get well or do I want to get even?”

You can’t do both. You’re going to have to decide: Do you want to get well? Or, Do you want to get even?

Getting even will not take away your pain. Some of you have done that. You’ve been able to get back at the person who hurt you. And in some small way it felt good. BUT, You know it didn’t solve the problem. You still feel the pain.

There is one way to get rid of the hurt in your heart: Forgiveness

You say, “But they don’t deserve to be forgiven!” You’re right. They don’t deserve to be forgiven! And neither do you! You don’t deserve to be forgiven, but God has forgiven you. Don’t forgive them because they deserve it. Forgive them because you need there is freedom and powerful healing that comes from forgiveness whether you’re the one on the giving or receiving end of it.

You can’t get on with your life as long as you’re stuck in the past. As long as you hold onto resentment, you are stuck. You have to be willing to forgive.

Romans 12:17 & 19 “Never pay back evil for evil… never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for He has said that He will repay those who deserve it.”

Psalm 56:8 “You, God, have kept a record of all my tears.”

God has kept a record of every one of your tears; the times that you were abused, the times that you felt injustice, the times you experienced hurt or rejection, the times that disaster robbed you. God has kept a record of your tears. Nothing has missed His watchful eye.

We don’t need to hold on to our hurts. We don’t need to rehearse them over and over again. We have a good and powerful God, full of compassion and purpose, who has already taken record of your hurt and has a peaceful and hopeful way forward for you. We should leave our hurts with God and trust that He knows the best way out of our pain.

1 Peter 2:23 “When Jesus suffered, He did not threaten to get even; He left His case in the hands of God…”

• Jesus had 6 wounds right before He died. A head wound, a face wound, the back wound from the whipping they gave Him, the hand wounds, the feet wounds and the side wound where they stuck a spear in His side. BUT the deepest wounds in Jesus’ life were the hidden wounds. He knew betrayal . He knew rejection . He knew hatred . He knew injustice . Jesus could have blown them all away in an instant, but, instead, He said, “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

You need to forgive and move on. Don’t linger in the pain.

You need to forgive because of what it will mean for you. You also need to forgive for what it will mean for those you love and do life with.

Hebrews 12:15 “A bitter spirit is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others.”

Resentment poisons you and everyone around you. When you get bitter, you hurt all kinds of other people and you perpetuate the pain. You perpetuate the pain and you spread the poison.

There’s only one antidote: Forgiveness. You forgive just as God has forgiven you. The result is healing and freedom.

Step 3: Replace Old Memories With God’s Truths

Your brain is like a Hard Drive. It has recorded everything your five senses have experienced—everything you’ve smelled, seen, heard, touched, tasted—it’s all in there.

Your brain is an amazing recorder. It’s recorded it all—the good and bad, right and wrong, true and false. Attitudes, perspectives, values, and behavior are all deeply affected by what information we take in and how it’s processed in our “heart” (the control center heart, not the valentines heart).

Romans 12:2b “Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”

How does God change us? How does He transform us?

By changing the way we think.

How do you participate in that process?

First —Pray. “God, would You heal my hurts, those open wounds in my heart?”

Second —Fill your mind with God’s word, the Bible. The more you fill your mind with the Bible, the more it will start erasing old recordings and putting God’s truth in your mind. That’s why it’s so important to have a daily time when you read the Bible.

Third —Believe the truth and act on it. Take a teachable approach to God’s word, wise advice, and other ways that God uses to get His word into your heart.

Here’s a truth for you to practice believing and acting regarding how God sees you…

Ephesians 1:4 “Through what Christ would do for us, God decided to make us holy in His eyes, without a single fault—we stand before Him covered with His love.”

Underline “without a single fault”. That’s how God sees you once you step across the line and give your life to Christ— “without a single fault” . He takes everything you’ve ever done wrong—the guilt, the regrets, the shame, the hurts—and He replaces your bad memories. God sees you without a single fault because of what Christ’s love has done for you. That’s the good news.

You need to replace your bad memories with God’s truth.

Step 4: Refocus On The Future

Reset.

Job 11:13-16 “Put your heart right, reach out to God… then face the world again, firm and courageous. Then all your troubles will fade from your memory, like floods that are past and remembered no more.”

First – “Put your heart right.”

That means you forgive those who’ve hurt you. Forgive them whether they deserve it or not. Do the right thing whether they did the right thing or not. You say, “I don’t feel like doing that.” Do it anyway! Because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the only way you’re going to experience freedom from your pain. Put your heart right. Forgive.

Second – “Reach out to God.”

You need to ask Jesus Christ to come into your life and you need to ask Him to begin healing your hidden wounds. You need to ask Him to start bringing good out of the circumstances of your life. Realize the wondrous love of Jesus and mighty power of God in your life today.

Third – “Face the world again.”

Don’t withdraw. Don’t pull yourself back into a shell. Resume living. Step forward. Let God and the people He uses show you love.

If you take these steps, notice what happens:

“Then all your troubles will fade from your memory. Like floods that are past and remembered no more.”

Wouldn’t you like that? Wouldn’t you like to have your troubles fade from your memory?

Reset your life on Jesus Christ and His plan, then refocus on the future that He has for you!

Reflection Questions

1. What hurts am I holding onto right now?
2. Who can I talk to about my hurts? (If you would like to speak with a CCC staff member, click here.)

Application Questions

1. What will I do this week to replace a damaging memory with God’s healing truth?
2. Memorize a verse that helps you to focus on God’s love and healing instead of a hurt

Prayer

God, not only do you bring good out of pain, and glory from ashes, but you do it quickly and in abundance! Thank you for all of the ways you have shown goodness to me amidst my current challenges. Thank you for providing truth today that can shape the way that I think, and my angle of approach to relating with you amidst my hurts. I pray that I would continue to see your goodness overflow, and that your healing process would become compete in my heart by the blood of Jesus. In the same way I am forgiven completely I pray that I would forgive completely; that I would see your goodness fully and would fully show your goodness to others. Your love is amazing and never fails. Thank you for all that you have brought me out of, and thank you that even when I can’t see the whole path out of my hurt, I can see the glimmer of hope that gets me one step closer to you in my journey today. You are so good. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!