“I . . . know how tempting it is to get all riled up and come out swinging in the name of demanding wrongs be made right. I get it. But we don’t want to address sin in ways that draw us into sinning.”- Lysa TerKeurst
In her Bonus Chapter (“When the Organization That Should Have Helped Me Actually Hurt Me”), the final chapter of I Want to Trust You, but I Don’t, Lysa TerKeurst takes on the topic of organizational hurt. Certainly, businesses, churches, ministries, and schools consist of people. Sometimes only one person within that group hurts us. But many times that person colludes or conspires with others. As a result, you feel the entire weight of that organization pressing against you.
At the very least, the others support the leadership making the hurtful choices. A collective force coming against your one fragile heart. In a process that feels void of human compassion.
Deep illusionment, Lysa acknowledges, can happen when leaders fail us. Therefore, Lysa stresses, we must ask the question, How do I better process this? Because we don’t want to foster a jaded spirit. Nor do we want to carry the hurt we experience into other places. Above all, when we look at something through the lens of our own hurt, a good chance exists that the lens blinds us to the good that still remains in our lives.
Consequently, Lysa extends this thought:
“At some point what hurts us the most is no longer just what happened. It’s the story we tell ourselves about what happened and the resignations we make afterward. They broke our trust. But they don’t have the power to break us unless we decide we can’t move on.
Can I make a sad admission that I really don’t want to make? What the organization did to me in this instance paled in comparison to the hurt I heaped on myself.”
Finally, Lysa exhorts, opening our hearts to God’s Word counters the lie that bitterness protects you. That your feelings of animosity are no big deal. Or that the issues are always someone else’s fault.
Today’s question: How often do you come out swinging to demand that wrongs be made right? Please share.
Coming Monday: the January Short Meditation, “Snow on snow- snow on snow”
Tomorrow’s blog: “Serenity that comes with moving on”