Spring weather is here! It has been so refreshing to see and feel the sun as the seasons have shifted. Sitting in the school pick-up line with the windows down and my sunnies on has felt like a mini vacation - mom life! I am so happy for the sunshine and warm weather to return and my kids are, too. As soon as my daughter gets in the car after school, she ditches her coat and asks if we can go to the park and my son quickly joins her petition.
Our family is in the season of bruises, scrapes and scabs. My children are about to be 4 and 6 years old and they are so busy and full of energy. From chasing each other around the house, to jumping on the bed, to wrestling under the pew at church - they are always up to something! Not a day passes that I don’t tend to at least one injury each. One injury each would actually be a good day! A bumped head, scraped knee, paper cut, smashed finger, hit elbow - it’s always something. Parents of littles know what I’m talking about! With the warm weather comes more injury-prone activities like bike riding, sports, the playground, etc. Get your bandaids and disinfectant ready, momma, the injuries are coming!
My daughter recently came to me with a small injury that was bleeding. As I was tending to it, I realized it wasn’t a new injury but one that I had tended to about a week prior. I asked her what happened and she confessed to peeling the scab. I scolded her, “Why?! The wound was about to be healed. Now the process has to start all over again! You should have just waited and left it alone.” My daughter responded, “I didn’t know! The scab was bothering me. I just wanted it to go away.” I realized this was the first time we were having a conversation about healing and how scabs work.
After this teaching moment with my daughter I couldn’t help but think of spiritual scabs. Adults are no less prone to injury than children are; the injuries just look a little different. The wounds may not be physical but they impact our spirit. Maybe you’ve been wounded by hurtful words, a betrayal, a lost opportunity, an offense, the loss of what once was a friendship. While you may not bleed, these wounds impact you nonetheless. The pain is still there; your heart aches and your mind races with ways of how to fix this.
A spiritual injury requires the same healing process as a physical injury. To disinfect the wound, apologies need to be made. You cover the wound with the spiritual band-aid of prayer. To allow the wound to heal, you take a step back and rest; you temporarily remove yourself from a situation or relationship. And over time, you finally have a scab. The finish line is in sight! As adults you think we would have learned our lesson as children and leave our scabs alone but sometimes we just can’t resist. We peel back pieces of our scab to check on the progress of healing. We’re impatient and try to rush the healing because, “the scab was bothering me. I just want it to go away.”
Or maybe we like the attention our wound brings us; we like the sympathy and care we receive when we’re injured and we want to prolong it just a little bit longer. You might be thinking to yourself: I would never do that! It’s easier to do than you think. When someone hurts us, we don’t heal overnight but sometimes we hold onto a grudge for years. We’ve told our offender we forgive them and put on a friendly face when we encounter them but feel pricked in our heart every time we see them. We can’t forget the pain they caused us. We pick the spiritual scab anytime we encounter our offenders and what was practically healed, is now bleeding and painful once again.
While only God can forgive sins and completely erase offenses from someone’s story, we ought to strive to do the same. As humans, we have scars but don’t wear your spiritual scars as a badge of honor. You may not be able to completely “forgive and forget” as God can but don’t hold onto pain. Stop reopening wounds that are so close to being healed. Wear your scars as a reminder of God’s healing and His help through your injuries and heartache but lay the offense down.
My children are practically guaranteed to be injured when we venture outside but that doesn’t mean I keep them from the joys of the outdoors. I take precaution measures and pray for their protection and remind them to be careful and gentle around one another. Likewise, spiritual injury is practically guaranteed when you engage with others in the church and community but that doesn’t mean that you isolate yourself and avoid pursuing relationships. Take precautions; guard your tongue and your heart and ask God to lead you.
Fellowship with the body of Christ throughout the week is like rays of sunshine and the fresh air of spring after the long week of winter. It's so refreshing and necessary to our mental health.
