Anything worthwhile takes time. Artists will spend years on a painting, carefully crafting each brushstroke until they have a beautiful masterpiece. Doctors go to school for thousands of hours to learn all they need to know to be able to help their patients.
It’s easy to understand the process and time things take when it comes to art or studying, but we often forget that healing is also a process.
Healing Isn’t Always Easy
When it comes to overcoming trauma and emotional health, we want to find the easy answer that will immediately make our pain, confusion, or sadness just go away. Let’s be honest; no one LIKES dealing with past memories or dismantling life’s hurts. Therapy is no fun in the moment.
I can imagine an artist may think about giving up after long nights of painting, still not finished with their work. I’m sure a Ph.D. student considers dropping out when they are in the middle of preparing for a huge assignment. But they keep going because they know that there is something incredible on the other side of their temporary discomfort.
We can do the hard work of letting God heal us because we know there is a more abundant life on the other side of our healing.
I’m a firm believer that healing takes time, but it is not time that heals us. We have to be willing to engage in the healing process and do hard things, not just hope that the pain will magically disappear one day.
This concept makes sense when we think about physical injuries. If you have a wound that needs stitches, you don’t just leave it and hope everything turns out okay. If you don’t go through the unpleasantness of stitches, your wound could become infected, resulting in much worse consequences. The same is true with our emotional, mental, and spiritual healing.
God Stays With Us Through Our Healing
Psalm 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
God’s heart is always for our healing. He wants us to be whole and restored. Yet, just like stitches are painful in the moment when God binds up our wounds, we often undergo feelings of discomfort as we face our pain.
The beautiful thing is, God never leaves us in our pain. Any time the Lord takes us through a healing process, He is always moving us to a place of greater wholeness and freedom!
So, if you have felt discouraged in your healing journey or maybe even said, “I tried counseling. It just made me feel worse,” my encouragement today is don’t give up on your healing just because the process is hard.
You have a more abundant life on the other side of your healing. There are other people who need to hear your story on the other side of your healing. God has peace and joy, and destiny for you on the other side of your healing.
Mercy Multiplied exists to provide opportunities for all to experience God’s unconditional love, forgiveness, and life-transforming power. We offer multiple programs and resources online and onsite designed to equip people to live free and stay free in Christ. For more information about the services we offer, click here.
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