I’m Hurt
“I’m hurt!” That is what I hear so often during the course of a day. I changed grades this year, going from teaching 5th grade to teaching 2nd grade. Oh boy, what a difference! Don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed teaching 2nd grade. The students actually still like their teachers at that age. However, they are so much more needy. One of the needs that I encountered this year was the need to stop the hurting IMMEDIATELY. Students would come to me and say “ I fell, I need to go to the nurse”. Or “I have a cut, can I go to the nurse?” At this point, I would write a clinic slip and send the student with a buddy to the nurse. Our kind, patient school nurse would give ice, bandages, wet paper towels, and a nurse sticker, anything to make the student feel better. They would come back to class with a new spring in their step. As the year went on, and as the students matured, the requests became more frequent, and more well timed. Rarely during lunch, and never during recess, did I get a request. But soon after, here they would come. “My leg hurts. Can I go to the nurse?” By this time in the year, I was also much more wise. “How did you hurt your leg?” Their reply “I fell at home last week!” Last week? “Did you tell mom?” “Yes.” “Did she take care of it?” “Yes, but it still hurts!” It would go on like this with different students and different “injuries” for weeks. Old cuts that had already scabbed over, scrapes that you would need a magnifying glass to see, and even left over hurt from an arm broken in kindergarten. Students wanted to go to the nurse so she could “heal” their old wounds and make them fell better. Until, finally I said “you can not go to the nurse for every old hurt! If a doctor has seen it, if mom has taken care of it, if it is not bleeding and you can still walk, talk, breathe, you cannot go to the nurse. I will look at it and see if I can help.” What little sad faces! No more ice, no more unnecessary bandages, no more messy wet paper towels, no more nurse stickers.
As I was pondering this situation, the Spirit of God showed me myself. Much like my kiddos, I had a lot of old hurts and pains that, in my mind needed immediate attention. I realized, I was saying the same thing my little 2nd graders are saying. “I’m hurt!” I said to my husband. “Now fix it.” “I’m hurt!” I said to my pastors and mentors. “Now fix it.” And far too often the pain came from old wounds that I have held on to, only revealing them to those who have no power to heal them. Yes, there is healing virtue in relationships, but the virtue only flows from Christ as the center of that relationship. Bless my husband’s heart, he tries. He can put the salve of sweet words and affirmation on wound, But he cannot do what only Jesus can do. He is the salve! He can heal, deliver and set us free. Pastors, mentors and other friends can only satisfy that immediate need with their efforts, but it’s the power of God that has lasting effect.
Sometimes it just takes time. Not that the Lord can not work a miraculous healing in your life. He can! But many times the healing process takes time. Just like physical healing, you continue to consult the doctor, and still believe God. Jesus is the Doctor who heals! Seek Him, cry out to Him, trust Him, and then wait on Him. Trust that, in the process, He is doing something new in you. Through the pain you feel, you identify with Christ and His suffering. As you wait, you will learn to lean and depend only on the one who can carry you through to pain until you are able to stand again.
Don’t seek immediate, albeit temporary, fixes. Seek the wholeness that only Christ can provide. Hold on dear one, after a while the God of all grace will restore, confirm, and strengthen you.
LORD my God, I called to you for help, and you healed me. Psalm 30:2
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10 NIV
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.Psalm 147:3 NIV
