“Such is the snowball effect our coping mechanisms create as we try to avoid pain and instead fall into unhealthy patterns.”- Esther Fleece
Esther Fleece concludes Chapter 2 of No More Faking Fine as she presents the fourth and fifth coping mechanisms used to short-circuit the healing process.
4. “I’ll just put my past behind me and move on.” Ms. Fleece states when we have unexamined brokenness and woundedness in our lives, we convince ourselves of all sorts of crazy things. Because it’s dangerous to live out of our wounds, we need lament to help us examine and heal those hurts.
In addition, you only make matters worse if you keep moving with a wound that needs attention. Therefore, you need to be honest with God about your pain. When you’re honest in your lament, you hear God’s honest response about His true character. Hence, when we wrestle deeply with the character and nature of God, He gives us a deeper revelation of Himself.
God uses our past wounds as entry points to do His healing work. Gold wants to meet us on this sacred ground. As a result, we don’t want to unwittingly silence Him.
5. “Emotions are dangerous and to be avoided at all costs.” Stuffing emotions (avoiding lament) keeps our pain internalized where it continues to do damage. The result?- dysfunction in every area of our lives.
In conclusion, Ms. Fleece advises paying attention to our emotions rather than fearfully pushing them aside. Then, Esther says, we possess the choice to “dismiss our emotion based on an untruth or embrace and further examine an emotion based on truth.” God may want to use your authentic emotions or meet you in the midst of them.
Today’s question: How have your coping mechanisms created a snowball effect in your life? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: Why we experience brokenness”
