“Feeling the pain is the first step toward healing the pain. The longer we avoid the feeling, the more we delay our healing. We can numb it, ignore it, or pretend it doesn’t exist, but all those options lead to an eventual breakdown, not a breakthrough.”- Lysa TerKeurst
In Chapter 3 (“But How Do I Get Through the Next 86,400 Seconds”) of It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way, Lysa TerKeurst opens with a short recap of Chapter 2. We have dust in front of us. And a glorious remake lies ahead. But how do we fix today’s pain?
Yes, Ms. TerKeurst acknowledges, we all want miraculous fixes, quick results, without pain. However, Lysa stresses, we need to fix our desire for everything to be okay right now. Next, we must address our refusal to embrace the process of healing.
Although we know intellectually that God will make something new and wonderful from our dust, we find it hard to function on a daily basis without freaking out. Because there’s no easy way around the heartbreaking circumstances in your life. You need to take the painful walk through them. In the end, the pain you feel finally demands that you slow down for a long enough time to fully address what’s truly going on beneath the surface.
Writing in The Weight of Glory: And Other Addresses, C. S. Lewis confessed: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
Lord, give us eyes to see that You long to help us. Thus, Lysa exhorts the reader to stop right here. Personalize that statement: God longs to help me. Ms. TerKeurst concludes:
“Now keep this statement in the context of how God longs to help us. There are many things God longs to help us with, but at the core of it all, He longs to help us through the process of being made into the image of Christ.”
Today’s question: What Scriptures help you take the first step toward healing the pain? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “A marked moment of trust”
