When I’ve been hurt, how can I find healing? - Hurts/hurting - TouchPoints

Ecclesiastes 8:9I have thought deeply about all that goes on here in the world, where people have the power to hurt each other.

Isaiah 2:22Stop putting your trust in mere humans. They are as frail as breath. How can they be of help to anyone?

Because we were created as a relational beings, we have the capacity to hurt others. And because we are human, you will experience pain as a result of our own and others’ imperfections. Much of the hurt we feel is unintentional, an unavoidable part of living in a broken world. We should try not to take it personally.

2 Corinthians 2:4How painful it was to write that letter! Heartbroken, I cried over it. I didn’t want to hurt you, but I wanted you to know how very much I love you.

2 Samuel 18:33The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to his room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! If only I could have died instead of you! O Absalom, my son, my son.”

Acts 20:37They wept aloud as they embraced him in farewell . . .

Ecclesiastes 3:4A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

We need to express our pain—privately to God, to our friends, or even publicly. Unexpressed pain can fester inside us, driving us toward unhealthy emotions like depression or bitterness.

Psalm 119:76Now let your unfailing love comfort me, just as you promised me, your servant.

Isaiah 51:12I, even I, am the one who comforts you. So why are you afraid of mere humans, who wither like the grass and disappear?

Psalm 6:2Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my body is in agony.

Psalm 34:18The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.

Psalm 22:24For he has not ignored the suffering of the needy. He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries for help.

Meditate on the knowledge that God compassionately cares for you and focus on the caring attributes of his character. The one who made you is the best one to heal you.

Psalm 119:28, 50, 52, 92I weep with grief; encourage me by your word . . . Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles . . . I meditate on your age-old laws; O Lord, they comfort me . . . If your law hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery.

Psalm 19:8The commandments of the Lord are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are clear, giving insight to life.

We can look to God’s Word, the Bible, as a source of comfort and healing. The words are from God himself, and bring healing for our hurts.

Psalm 30:11You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 126:5-6Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Romans 8:23And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Psalm 147:3He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.

God does not promise believers a life free from pain and suffering. The difference is that as a Christian, we have a relationship with a God who helps us through our hurts, comforts us in our hurts, and sometimes miraculously heals our hurts. But most important, we have a God who will one day take away all of our hurts when we arrive at heaven. Whatever pain we are experiencing is temporary; it will end, perhaps here on earth, but certainly in eternity.

Genesis 50:15, 19-21But now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers became afraid. “Now Joseph will pay us back for all the evil we did to him,” they said . . . But Joseph told them, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, to judge and punish you? As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil. He brought me to the high position I have today so I could save the lives of many people. No, don’t be afraid. Indeed, I myself will take care of you and your families.” And he spoke very kindly to them, reassuring them.

Psalm 44:16All we hear are the taunts of our mockers. All we see are our vengeful enemies.

Don’t fixate on hurtful words from hurtful people. Meditating on others’ unkindness can consume our thoughts and reopen painful wounds. Instead, we should allow Scripture’s healing words to soothe our hurts.

Genesis 33:4Then Esau ran to meet him and embraced him affectionately and kissed him. Both of them were in tears.

Forgiveness is a miraculous medicine to heal our brokenness. Accept it gladly.