Just as parents set up 529 college saving plans for their children, shouldn’t we have savings accounts for our children’s future therapy expenses?
As much as I try to do better for my child, there may, in fact, be things I am doing today that the little one will need healing from in 20 years. Just as many of our parents never meant to hurt us, we may be making our own mess-ups our child may have to clean up later.
While I won’t be saving financially, I will, hopefully, be lighting a path for what is possible in healing.
Sometimes, it feels easier to find a community who shares my particular brand of pain, staying exactly where I am. Grief, especially, has a particularly firm grip on keeping me plunged tightly in the waves of misery.
Yet, if there is one thing I want to pass on to my child, it’s another way to find healing and live in the freedom of healing. The one gift I hope to pass on to my child is an embrace for a rhythm of healing.
Just this week, I had a sudden shuddering realization that I seem to be consistently living in a state of survival. I’ve never chosen the easy path for myself. In fact, more often than not, I’ve chosen the path of most resistance. If I think back on particular circumstances, I probably shouldn’t be alive today.
It’s one of those self-inflicted scars that has been living in plain sight for years. Yet, as soon as it was named, I could no longer avoid it. In years past, had I been given this clear view of myself in a mirror, I would have stopped dead in my tracks, beaten down by the years of pain I’ve inflicted on myself. I would have spent months dwelling on what was and all the things I can no longer change.
It’s so easy for me to take this to God in prayer and say something like, “I know I’m a mess, God, and I’m going to fix myself—just wait and see.” For years, I had a flawed view of God looking down at me and working on his “fixer upper.”
It’s only now, as I’m beginning to learn the rhythms of healing, that I can see the wound for what it is—and then move forward.
It couldn’t be further from the truth. God calls us into healing, but He’s already done the work. As Paul says it:
“You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.” – Galatians 5:13
The truth is that God’s desire is for there be nothing between us. All the scars—all the wounding—can be deep chasms that keep me turned in another direction. Our wounds are an opportunity to turn to Him, share in Christ’s love and healing, and trust.
The other surprise I’ve noticed in the rhythm of healing is that as we offer up our wounds to Christ, we have already done the heavy lifting. I own my past and know survival has gotten me to this point, but God is now calling me to a place of safety.
The Rhythm of Healing
- See what wound is being revealed
- Walk boldly into the season of healing
- Offer up the wound to Christ [In Words – LINK]
- Trust God to do the healing work
As you carry the heavy burden of grief, ask yourself:
- What past wound is being revealed to you currently?
- What are you going to do with that realization?
- What truth is God calling you into during this season?