March 4, 2019
Our resident philosopher, otherwise known as our eight year old, recently expounded on his thoughts about a fellow second grader who apparantly likes to draw all over the backs of her worksheets.
“She draws unicorns, sunshines, smiley faces, and cupcakes all over her papers. Even glitter and rainbows,” he explained with rolling eyes.
“Honey,” I nudged, “those are things that she likes.”
“Well, she needs to know that the world ain’t all sunshine, rainbows, and cupcakes” he responded.
At the ripe old age of eight, I can say that life hasn’t dealt him too many hard knocks. An occasional time-out, scraped knee, or busted Lego set may be the biggest of his worries at this point.
But, yikes, he makes a good point. Can I get a witness?
Life has a way of knocking us over at times, emphasizing a lack of unicorns and rainbows to our everydays.
The biggest blow I ever received was hearing the words, “I can’t find a heartbeat.” It knocked me down, took my breath, and robbed me of everything I knew about life until that day.
It was ten years ago that I heard those words. Ten years ago that I found out my little girl would live her days in eternity. Ten years ago that I last held her. Ten years. It hurts to say it.
Hurt and sadness and grief are still part of my story. I think they always will be. But by the grace of God, they are not the only pages in my book.
We all have those moments, those times when the fact that life isn’t glitter and smiley faces stare us down. And down we may go. But we cannot stay there.
I had a friend who described such times as opportunities for us to wallow in our grief or walk in our healing.
Walking in healing doesn’t happen automatically. And there is no timeline for it. We have to wallow in grief for a while. We must grieve and recover from our wounds before we can expect to stand up and run a race. That takes time. But healing comes. Slowly and surely, it will come.
Whatever your tough thing is…a loss, rejection, loneliness, discouragement…I pray that you will take steps to walk in the healing the LORD provides.
What does this mean exactly? What does this walk look like? Here are some ways it has shown itself in my life…
Walking in healing doesn’t equal living without sadness and hurt. Ten years after saying goodbye to Kelsey, I still have days when the tears come to my eyes so easily. A song, a verse, a memory, or an expectation can bring back the freshness of the pain. On these days, I make an effort to not stuff it down. I allow myself to feel the hurt and sadness. Doing so helps me make another step in healing.
Walking in healing recognizes that life may not ever look the same. In the months after Kelsey’s death, I kept saying that if I had to go through this, I didn’t want to be the same person. While I can’t honestly say that all of the changes have been positive (cue the worry-filled mama), God can take our pains and grow us in Him.
Walking in healing claims God’s promises. The Bible is full of God’s promises to us.
“Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
“I will strengthen you and help you.” Isaiah 41:10
“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 147: 3
These are God’s words so they aren’t empty or meaningless. Hold onto them.
Walking in healing keeps an eternal perspective. Life has a way at times to bog us down with worries and hurts. But remembering that the things of this life are temporary is an encouragement. We (thankfully) can’t see the entire picture. But (thankfully) our eternal home will be missing the sorrows of this earth.
Walking in healing calls us to take someone else’s hand to help them up. As we begin to walk in healing, we can help others who may be struggling to get on their feet. Prayers, encouragement, sharing experiences, but most of all, listening to others helps us all when we are hurting. Your story and healing may be just what someone else needs to hear.
Walking in healing means once again recognizing those rainbows and sunshine around us. No, life isn’t all smiley faces and glitter, but it sure has plenty of them! Jesus not only came to give us life; He came to give us abundant life. An abundance of joy, peace, and His healing.
