Paper cuts.
What is the first thing that you think about when you get one. OUCH! Do you ever think why does it sting? The pain does not match the wound. Or, maybe you can not relate the whole paper cut thing.
What about learning how to ride a bike?
I remember when I took my first ride and I fell. I fell hard. I skinned my knee and elbow. It was not an open wound, but it stung. It was a road burn. But, this is nothing like the screams that came out of me when my grandmother put alcohol on it to clean it up.
Let’s face it, healing hurts!
I was reminded of this thankfully, when someone asked me how I was doing after a recent ankle surgery. I sat with a blank scare on my face and literally no expression until she said, you know it is ok to say, it hurts. It was like a huge weight left off of my body and I exhaled. She was right. It hurts, and right now, I can not think the “gracefully-Christian” way to say it any other way. Why do we so often try to hide our hurt until it builds up so high that we explode? Even when I fell off my bike as a kid, one of the first things I did was look around to see who was looking.
And, if I really think about it… for the majority of my life, I have been on auto-pilot. Over and over, I have found myself in “that place”. Where I needed to pick myself up. Set a goal. Crush it. Repeat. And, interestingly enough, I can see how God was with me every step of the way, but honestly, I did not always recognize it until the season ended. Any maybe it is not the Christian-way to admit that, but it is the truth! Don't get me wrong the strength of the Holy Spirit equipped me, and I unconsciously embraced the journey and stacked up the lessons. But when our focus is on survival -- you don’t necessarily stop to take an inventory of what hurts. If something causes you to stubble, or shakes you to your core, we suck it up and tuck it in a corner. We don’t invite God into our deepest pain, we close him out.
Here is what I have to remind myself:
He is omnipotent (all-powerful). There is no other god, no other being that can match the power of God. And, if He is for you who can stand against you.
He is omniscient (all-knowing). He knows your past, and loves you still. He is with you in the present completely. And, He has great plans for your future – more than you can imagine.
He is omnipresent (present everywhere all at the same time). You can’t hide from God. And, in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep, He is there to comfort your soul and rock you back to sleep.
This is the greatest lesson that I can learn and remember. God longs to hear our hearts. He wants to know when it hurts!
Father God, we Praise You for being a God that is all-powerful, all-knowing, and present everywhere all at the same time. Lord, let us guard our hearts, but not from You. Allow us to open up when it is uncomfortable, and seek You when we are lost. In Your Name. Amen.
