In life, we often forget that it doesn’t matter what happens to us or where we come from. It matters what we do with what happens with what we’ve been given.
Part of everyone’s journey in life is we’ve all been in your in someway. There’s a biblical perspective that helps us become more resilient as we work through life challenges with God’s help.
Dealing with our woundedness is a skill we must master. Failure to do so could lead to a life of mental, emotional, and spiritual impairment.
Whether our woundedness comes from a relationship, a business failure, moral failure, or our stupidity and lack of wisdom, or even a preponderance of pride we must learn how to overcome it.
I have made some dumb mistakes, but I’ve also been wounded by others. No matter how the wound occurred it became a time of trial. But it can also be part of God‘s refining process.
Woundedness is part of what it means to be human. Life wounds, all of us to one extent or another.
And there lies the problem. Culture wants us to hide everything inside and pretend it doesn’t exist. But I don’t think that’s the answer. I’ve healed more by opening up about my woundedness, then I ever have pushing it down inside further and further.
The Bible and Trauma
The scriptures reveals that trauma and trials are a normal part of being human. God can use the pain to draw us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. As we work through our issues, we experience them.
In 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 Paul gives us a dose of help. “Blessed be the God and Father our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort. Who comforts us in all our affliction that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by.”
From the book of Genesis we see deeply seated family, bitterness, and resentment. In addition to Jacob being a ruthless, and determined man he was also a con man and a liar. His name literally means “deceiver” and if we dig a little deeper we see his name also means “grabber.” Which explains why he stole his brother’s (Esau) blessing from their father.
Scripture also reveals that Jacob‘s life was a constant struggle. While God had promised him, he would be the father of a company of nations, he also dealt with a lot of fear and anxiety.
There was a tipping point in Jacob’s life. Jacob had to come face to face with Esau again, and he was fearful of the outcome.(Genesis 27: 1-28, 7).
Jacob hopes that he wouldn’t be killed when he met Esau. So, he bribes his brother by sending a caravan of gifts along with the women and children of his household. His plan worked. But Jacob was exhausted from all the worry and anxiety directly resulting in his lying deceitful ways. And he fell into a deep sleep.
Something was about to change. He fell asleep in the desert. If you’ve ever slept in a desert, it can be an all inspiring experience, but you are also vulnerable.
You can also feel small compared to the grandeur of the sky. It almost feels like you’re in another world. I like camping in the desert because I can connect with God better and have peace that I don’t find anywhere else.
In Jacob‘s case, I think he was an exhausted desert dweller who did not know what a life altering experience it would be. I’m sure that his less than stellar family history had been really tough. But when he wrestled with a angel of God who did Jacob, it was a life changer.
Jacob told the angel I will not let go of you and tell you bless me. When he was asked, what is your name? He said Jacob. The angel of God told him, “your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel” because he fought with God and with men and won. Jacob named the desert place where he fought with the angel of God, Peniel, which man’s “face of God.” Because he felt like he saw the face of God yet was spared from death.
As a result of this, Jacob‘s life was changed forever. His name was changed from the deceiver to Israel.
Like Jacob it’s easy to see our woundedness and struggles, fears, wellness, and feeling like an imposter, sometimes feeling exhausted and powerless. But when we look closer, we can see growth, hope, and transformation.
America celebrates, wealth, prestige, power, strength, and confidence. But there are still people that live day today, feeling vulnerable, depressed, anxious, and doubt ridden, as think of themselves as a failure. But I think these people are dead wrong. Deep inside everyone’s woundedness lies the simple optimism of growth and the victory of success. And Jacob’s story should keep us living in reality, one that’s filled with hope.
No matter what we face, God gives us power, the will, and the insight to remain resilient in every situation.
“For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from God’s love which is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord” -Romans 8:38-39
Life is always changing. And we all carry woundedness, but the worst thing we can do is try and handle it on our own.
While your current situation may be awful, you have to accept it as reality. As a result, you will then be able to take personal action to change it. It’s not about being in denial or blame shifting. It’s not about buying into a victim mentality. Instead, it’s about getting off your butt And taking action to move forward.
CS Lewis once wrote, “ God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. Pain is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”
God is more concerned with our character than our comfort. At times, He chooses to use tragedy to refine us.
From Pity to Praise 