Can broken lives heal?
I had to confront the truth I was deeply wounded. Accepting this was challenging because of this lingering question Can broken lives heal? In retrospect, I know those negative thoughts echoed the ferocity of the pain. The pain was also the reason I bravely made the decision to engage with strategies for my healing. However, what should I do? What would work for me at this stage in my life? Would it answer the questions in my head and heal the pain in my heart? Additionally, where would God fit? Does He have a place? Can He even relate to my pain? (Yes I thought about it). As I got to the end of therapy I can say with confidence broken lives can heal my life attest to that fact. On many occasions as I share my story I am asked, how do you do it? Meaning how can you go in and out of your experiences and do not break. I have one answer, I received healing. Do not attempt to share your story publicly before receiving complete healing. Undertaking sharing prematurely could be counter-productive to healing.
What is the process of healing?
In answering the question can broken lives heal, I will introduce you to the route to healing that was beneficial to me. This path is the beginning, middle and end of healing, however, at the start, this was not entirely clear to me.
I have always held the scripture dearly from Isaiah 53:5 ‘But He was wounded for my transgression and bruised for my iniquity; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by his stripes, we are healed.’ Isaiah 53:5
There were times as I went through the throes of pain that I entertained the question. Can Jesus relate to my pain? Can He identify with my experiences? Can broken lives heal by applying scripture? Can this method be used to receive freedom? In that place of confusion I had forgotten the many times just holding the bible would be a source of comfort. Despite that, I accommodated doubts and developed trust issues, not only with God but with everyone else around me. I told myself, no one can empathise. I began to see disappointments in everyone.
I felt sure were I to ask the people around me if they knew that God could relate to their pain. I wonder whether the answer to that question would be a resounding yes. What gave us this assurance?where is the evidence that He can? The Bible says, “For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;” Hebrews 4:15. Nevertheless, many struggle with the practicalities of this. Should we embrace this truth it would change our perspective regarding our suffering and enable us to remain more stable and grounded even amidst the most trying circumstances? The word has the answer to the question can broken lives heal.
The impact of trauma
Trauma is not neatly packaged and does not come at convenient times. It does not consider age or stages of life. How does a 5-year-old begin to grapple with biblical concepts such as by ‘His stripes I am healed?’ Indeed, how does a 40-year-old begin to make sense of this idea, my abuse took place in childhood and to protect myself from the magnitude of the pain I repressed the memories. I grew up, but the ferocity of the pain did not. As such, when I finally accepted my truth I needed to learn to be kind to the 5-year-old. In short, I needed explanations in a way a child could understand. In times like this biblical concepts can be meaningless if the Holy Spirit does not have the opportunity to give clarity and understanding.
It took many years and gentle leading through many other places by the Holy Spirit before He coaxed me into acceptance and helped me to come to the place where I could completely relax and fall into Him whenever the need arises. Many years of training and experience in helping people could not help me with making these connections. I needed something beyond psychosocial models of helping people.
I learnt a valuable lesson through this process. I discovered that we suffer because we fail to accept, or we do not grasp the extent of the great love that God has for us. As I gained more insight into my life and hurt, my purpose took on a new dimension. I committed to helping people make this connection, teaching them the how to’s of their story and Jesus’s story. Helping others to grow through the places that I have grown through and found healing and peace. Helping women and men to answer their question can broken lives heal? I discovered that it could and with the help of my eBooks https://www.woundstoscars.com/ebook/and online course you can begin to make that journey of healing as well. My online course demonstrates this in a very relevant way. Find it here https://www.woundstoscars.com/product/7-day-course-his-wounds-and-mine/
Joy says
you will always be my hero.
Joanna Daniel says
Love you too Joy