Time allows for the memories of the pain to fade, but it’s effects lay dormant, still. Just below the surface, the raw emotions settle in and make themselves obscure until a trigger comes along… then, suddenly, we’re reminded that even though time has passed, the pain has not.
Can I pose the question, that maybe, just maybe, time passing as our trauma lays dormant actually damages us more? Time doesn’t heal. Healing heals. And you and I will never reach that place of healing if we sit back and wait, listening to each tick, tick, believing the lie that as the hands of the clock turn, so will the direction of our lives.
Waiting for time to heal your brokenness is actually just living passively in state of denial. It’s like sitting on the field, expecting to win the game. Before you can win the game, you have to participate. You have to get up, take shots, play offense against some things, and defense against others. You have to move. You have to make plays that sometimes achieve what they’re intended to, and sometimes fail. That’s part of the process. You may get knocked down, and you may get injured. You may push yourself hard enough to achieve a new level of greatness. But one thing is for certain: if you sit and wait for time to pass instead of fighting for the win, you will always lose.
“Everything that can endure fire, you shall put through the fire, and it shall be clean; and it shall be purified with the water of purification.”
Numbers 31:23 NKJV
Nobody Heals in Isolation
Healing takes work, it takes grit. It takes dang near everything you’ve got. It strips you. It peels off layer after layer, until your core vulnerabilities and sensitivities are all that’s left to offer the world. Those just-under-the-surface, raw emotions that settled in have nowhere to hide, anymore. The only thing left to do is expose them, inviting light and healing into those obscure places of depravity. Nobody ever heals in isolation. The light has to shine in, the darkness has to be dispelled, and we have to get honest with the face staring back at us in the mirror.
Time doesn’t heal. But crying a thousand tears does. Confessing a thousand sins does. Making a thousand apologies does. Hugging it out a thousand times does. Praying about it a thousand times does. Standing when you want to fall apart a thousand times does. Speaking a forgiving word instead of a cruel one a thousand times does. Getting out of bed a thousand times does. Taking the tough advice of your counselor a thousand times does. Loving in the midst of heartbreak a thousand times does. Continuing to believe in the promises of God instead of the lies of Satan—- a thousand times—- does.
“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Isaiah 53:5 NKJV
Forged to Purify
Healing is possible. In fact, it’s likely. We are made to heal. We take after our Father. He is the Healer of all healers. He taught us brokenness on the cross, and He taught us healing in the resurrection. Not only was He healed and justified, but so were we. So were we! We were born to walk through the fires of life… becoming more than conquerors through them. Fire is forged to purify. What the enemy means for evil in our lives, our great God turns for GOOD. That’s no cheesy one liner from the enemy… THAT is biblical truth. Our God allows us to mount up on wings like eagles, securing victory and favor, while He pushes back the darkness and breaks the chains, on our behalf! We win. We are victorious. But it’s only after we get up, and fight for it. Time doesn’t heal- healing does. What are you doing today to find your healing?
