Every person in the world has been wounded at some point in their life. If that’s true then it means that you have wounds in your life that need to be healed by the power of Jesus’ name. The good news is the Jesus heals the brokenhearted.

Ignoring Wounds Won’t Make Them Go Away

Wounds come in every size, shape, and dimension. Some are minor like joking remarks by a friend or family member that hurt. Others are massive and include every kind of abuse (verbal, physical, sexual), racism, tragic accidents, murders, rapes, adultery, military service, police and rescue workers seeing continual tragedy, and, it seems, a million more.

You may be thinking, Thanks, Terry, for reminding me of my painful memories. I am trying to forget them and leave them behind and you’re bringing them up and I don’t like it.

The goal behind bringing your hurts up is for you to bring them to Jesus so He can heal your wounds.

Festering Wounds Are Painful

Too often I see people carrying wounds in their heart too long. I have talked to people that are weeping and telling me a situation that took place in their lives. I am thinking that the event happened days or weeks ago. When I ask it when it happened they might tell me twenty or thirty years ago. That is way too long to carry pain.

Of course, it takes time to work through a hurt you’ve experienced. The pain is real. The anger. The disappointment, The shame. The sick feeling in the pit of your gut when you think about it. But there should be an end to the pain. Some experts say that the grieving process can take up to a year.

Pain affects each of us differently. Here are a few examples:

• For some, pain causes fear and isolation. If I stay away from people and don’t let them get involved in my life, then I’ll be safe.
• For others, pain turns them into abusers themselves. They vow that no one will ever treat them that way ever again and blow up and strike out at every perceived offense.
• Still others decide to live their lives among people but harden their hearts and refuse to let anyone in. They build huge barriers that people can sense without a word being said.
• Then there are those who try to cover up the pain with drugs, alcohol, food, spending, or relationships. They try to medicate the pain with things they believe will bring comfort.

Some Wounds Run Deep

I recently listened to an audiobook about Jacqueline Kennedy. She and her husband, President John F. Kennedy were together in Dallas, Texas in 1963 when he was assassinated. Without going into great detail the president was shot in the head and Jackie was sitting in the back seat with him pressing her hands on his head trying to keep his brains from coming out.

Needless to say, this was a major traumatic situation and Jackie dealt with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) for a majority of her life. She could strongly recall the seconds that ticked by and the events that took place that day and repeated them over and over to any who would listen.

She sought out help but nothing helped. PTSD was not recognized as a disorder until 1980. No one knew what to do or how to help her. She was fearful for her own life and the life of Bobby and Ted Kennedy. It didn’t help her situation when Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in Los Angeles in 1968.

Jesus Wants to Heal Your Wounds

It doesn’t matter what size of hurt you have, Jesus wants to heal it. Jesus not only understands your pain, but He has also taken it upon Himself. Listen to Isaiah 53:3-5:

3 He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed. 

Read that verse again, but this time slowly. Look at all the negative words that describe what Jesus was acquainted with and what He bore on our behalf:

• Jesus was forsaken - which means to accord little worth to, to look down upon with contempt and even hatred.
• Jesus was forsaken - He was abandoned and left by others. When Jesus was taken in the garden all the disciples forsook Him.
• Jesus was a man of sorrows - He experienced mental and physical suffering, pain, anguish
• Jesus bore our griefs - He took all the misery resulting from affliction upon Himself. The word bore means to endure something unpleasant on the behalf of others.
• Jesus carried our sorrows - He carried our heavy load upon Himself.
• Jesus was stricken - He took the physical blows and punishment that was due to us.
• Jesus was afflicted - He took the punishment and afflictions of pain onto Himself.
• Jesus was pierced - He was nailed to the cross and fatally wounded.
• Jesus was crushed - He was broken into pieces and shattered on our behalf.
• Jesus was scourged - He was beaten with a whip thirty-nine times tearing His back and sides to shreds.

It’s hard to imagine the suffering that Jesus took upon Himself so that we could be healed spiritually, physically, emotionally, and relationally. He is the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. Just like God the Father, He restores our souls.

Did you catch the last line of the Bible verses above? It says by His scourging we are healed. Jesus bore all this upon Himself so you could be healed.

Bring Your Pain to Jesus

Jesus wants to take our pain but sometimes we keep it. Here are some of the ways we try to deal with pain that never work in the long run. We:

• Hide our pain from others and act like nothing's wrong.
• Sweep the pain under the rug and pretend that the large bump in the rug is not really there.
• Rerun the painful situation over and over and over again coming up with things that we should have said or done.
• Meditate on the pain and want the other person to suffer for what they did.
• Share our pain with anyone who will listen hoping that If we say it enough the pain will stop.
• Make plans to get even and make sure they get what is coming to them.
• Dwell on the pain and allow it to overwhelm us and depress us.
• Believe that the thing that caused the pain has marred us and that we’re damaged or broken forever.

Somehow in the process of things we forget to bring our pains and sorrows to Jesus. He is there to listen and to heal. Jesus knows what you experienced. He knows every detail. He is waiting to for you to come to him and give Him the pain and ask for your heart to be healed.

A Process to Work Through

I am going to suggest a simple process to go through with the Lord. It may not be easy, but it’s so simple that anyone can do it, even a child. The difficult part of it is that we have to let go of the pain and give it to Jesus.

Many times during this process you may have to forgive the person who hurt you. I will deal with forgiveness more next week. The short understanding of forgiveness is that you release the person who hurt you to the Lord and trust that He will bring you justice.

This article covers one small area of the Eight Steps to Experiencing His Victory Process. If you are seriously seeking freedom in your life, I want to suggest the following courses available from Experiencing His Victory.

Here are the steps I suggest you take to bring your pain to Jesus and receive healing:

❏ List the feelings and emotions you are experiencing in the situation. Think about the situation(s) where you were wounded. List the feelings and emotions you’re experiencing. Are you feeling unloved, angry, fearful, confused, betrayed, or abandoned? Put your own words to what you’re feeling.

❏ List the thoughts that are going through your mind because of the situation. Some examples are, “I’m unlovable.” “I’m dirty.” “I deserve it.” “Nobody cares.” “I’ll never trust anyone again.”

❏ Give Jesus every painful feeling and emotion from the situation. Go through your list of feelings and emotions and give them one by one to Jesus. Say something like, “Jesus, I give you my feeling of fear.” Make sure you release each one totally to the Lord. If you need to forgive the person for hurting you, do so now.

❏ Ask Jesus to heal your broken heart. Once you have given every feeling and emotion to Jesus, ask Him to heal every place in your heart affected by this situation. Open your heart to Him and receive His healing.

❏ Repent of and renounce any ungodly beliefs. Go through your list of ungodly beliefs one by one. Repent for believing them. Renounce the lie. Ask God for His truth. Embrace God’s truth. Write down the truths God shows you and review them over the next 30 days.

❏ Make sure you are completely healed. Once you have completed the above steps, think back through the situation. Are you still experiencing any negative emotions? If so, go through the steps above for any remaining feeling until every issue is dealt with. If not, then thank the Lord for healing your broken heart.

I pray that the Lord will bless you choose to use this process. If you experience any healing and freedom, please let me know by leaving a comment or by contacting me a terry@experiencinghisvictory.com