By: Zephare Ramirez
On the 1st Sunday in December, I was given an assignment: share a message titled “Walking Wounded.” In true Zeph-like fashion, I immediately said to the Lord, “Seriously?”
My argument with Him (I was really arguing with myself – He just listened) was, “How do you expect me to share when I feel like the poster child for that subject?” You see, years of trauma don’t disappear overnight, and I know I’m not the only one.
Trust me when I say I have the scars to prove it. I don’t have sweet Christmas memories to look back on. I dread the days of Thanksgiving through the end of the year, not because I lack gratitude but because of the heaviness that blankets many of us when the season arrives.
Walking wounded is broad and multi-faceted. Sometimes, it’s sheer grief because life and family look different when you lose someone you love. Sometimes, it involves hurts, wounds, and offenses that others have afflicted upon us.
The offenses can be a nuisance. They can fester and cause all sorts of internal infections. It is one thing to be hurt by a stranger and entirely something else to be hurt by someone you loved, trusted, or were in community with.
David said it like this, “It is not an enemy who taunts me. I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me; I could have hidden from them. Instead, it was you, my equal, my companion and close friend” (Psalm 55:12). The enemy is so deceptive. He really is an illusionist, but there is hope for our healing — by applying pressure to the pain.
Hear me out. Applying God’s Truth to your woundedness works as a pressure dressing to stop the hemorrhaging caused by lies. Allow the Hands of the Great Physician to touch your trauma points and do what only He can do. There is no need to fake it until you make it. You don’t have to put on a facade or respond with christianese when you’re hurting inside. It’s okay not to be okay.
What’s not okay is pitching a tent within your brokenness. How easy it is to camp out in our pain — building a campfire and roasting marshmallows. Getting “used” to these feelings is not okay. Our God is still in the business of healing small and big wounds alike.
King David knew what it felt like, and so did Jesus. He was the stone that the builders rejected. He did no wrong, but He chose the joy set before Him (which He considers you and I). He came to us wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger.
Walking wounded might be multi-faceted, and so is our God. The healing virtue from Calvary’s Cross over 2000 years ago is the same at work in our lives today. It will never lose its power. You see, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him…and by His wounds, WE ARE HEALED!” (Isaiah 53:5).
My prayer for you is that while you may be walking wounded, you will keep walking. God takes time to walk it out with us. He never leaves us, and He will never forsake us. The process of healing is possible. My life is proof of it. And here’s the thing: when you start to heal, be sure to share your scars because their evidence helps heal the wounds of others.