Healing Is a Beast

Anyone else relate to this title, Healing Is A Beast? I certainly can! 

The Beast

 I was reminded of this recently, in a very painful way. It started out as a normal Saturday morning. Tim and I enjoyed our morning coffee together, did some brainstorming about changes we could make with our business, took our dogs out for a walk, even had a nice dinner with our daughter and her family – and then it started.  

Symptoms started like a raging, angry lion; the UTI began with a roar. It took days of taking an antibiotic to heal the infection and to ease the painful symptoms. The onset of the infection was a beast that resulted in a sleepless night with much discomfort. I was anxious to get the antibiotic and the pain relief medicine. I wished it would take away all the painful symptoms immediately.  

Unfortunately, that is not how healing works!

Healing

Healing is a process; it means taking the steps, doing the work, and then giving it time.  

Exactly what we do not want – but what we need – to heal.  And that is why healing is a beast.

Healing from a UTI is a much simpler healing process. When healing from an emotional wound, it’s an entirely different story. Causes of an emotional wound can be all over the spectrum, from hurtful words to being betrayed. It all hurts, causes new wounds, or opens up old wounds. What to do with those wounds? We can choose to ignore them, stuff them way down – or we can deal with them by facing and then working through them. 

Treatment

Unfortunately, when we choose to ignore and stuff our wounds, they don’t just go away. Instead, we carry them with us. Those hurts we leave unprocessed become like a raging infection. Left untreated, they only become worse.  

How to process through? First, acknowledge the hurt – journal about it. If appropriate, talk to the person or make amends. Reach out to a professional. Finally, but most importantly, pray about it and give it to GOD.