What To Do With Wounds That Won’t Heal

Something that happened to me 45 years ago still hurts.

The water was crystal blue. The sky, cloudless. Beach chairs surrounding the hotel pool were sizzling hot in the East African sun. My brother and I spent countless hours at this pool when we were home from boarding school. Our mom would drop us off in the morning with a bit of money to buy our lunch and pick us up again at around 4pm almost daily.

We loved swimming. We invented fun games and dove around like fish, often trying to out-do each other to see who could hold their breath longer or swim the fastest butterfly.

One afternoon we were practicing our underwater handstands in the shallow end of the pool. When my legs came down I felt a sharp pain on the top of my foot. I thought I’d scraped it on something and climbed out of the pool only to realize that blood was pouring out of a large gash. An underwater light had been smashed and the glass had not been cleaned out, sliceing my foot open.

My brother frantically called my mother on the hotel phone and she raced over and took me to the nearest clinic.

The clinic was not sterile. It was not equipped for emergencies. There was no numbing medication provided while the doctor stitched me up with something that could best be described as an embroidery needle.

I remember the doctor telling my mom to hold me down as he did his best to repair the damage with his limited supplies. I can still hear her gagging at the sight of him wrestling the long, blunt needle in and out of my jagged flesh as I thrashed and screamed in agony.

Needless to say, it didn’t heal very well.

The scar still hurts to touch because the injury was not properly repaired in the first place. To this day I can’t let anything rest on my foot because the pain shoots through my body like an electric shock.

We all have scars like that. Maybe not in the physical sense like my foot, but heart-scars.

We become masters of denial which creates a thin veneer of scar tissue, an illusion of healing. But all it takes is one little poke and instantly pain courses through us at lightening speed.

We feel unloved, unheard, unseen, unappreciated, unimportant. Garbage.

The passage of time may have provided a thin layer of scar tissue to cover over our hurt, but if the Great Physician hasn’t tended to the wound it will never heal properly.

Friend, do you have wounds that have not healed? Do you struggle with the enemy of our souls knowing exactly where your pain points are and repeatedly stepping on them in order to keep you writhing in agony?

I can’t tell you exactly what method to use but the bottom line is you need to get quiet before God in prayer. You need to get busy reading his word. You need to show up at the foot of the true healer and do the work of asking him to cleanse your wounds, treat them so they don’t get infected with bitterness and hatred and rely on his power to once again make you whole.

Reading more self-help books won’t help.

Asking more friends won’t help.

Getting more stressed won’t help.

Feeling more alone and depressed won’t help.

Only Jesus can help.

I am willing to bet that you’ve tried everything else to ease your pain and nothing has provided lasting relief.

Psalm 147:3 states “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”

The Lord is filled with compassion for you, he sees your pain and the deep sorrow you hold in your heart. This verse gives us a glimpse of a God who is in the business of healing and total restoration of hearts. A God who hears you. A God who answers prayer. A God who reminds you that he has never left you nor abandoned you. He stands in front of you like a shield. He fights for you.

I pray that today you will turn to the Great Physician and trust him to do his restorative work in your heart.

Blessings xo