How to Overcome Pain

I’m in a couple of business groups.  One, Elevate Leadership, is designed around helping me grow to become a better leader and business owner.  The other, Biz to Biz, is designed around helping me grow the business and ensure that there is plenty of money coming in to take care of employees and family.

A friend and former colleague, Jeramie Meadows, was in both of those groups, and recently gave a talk at Elevate.  He made reference to something his father-in-law used to say all the time, something that on the surface sounds a bit silly, but when you dive into it, it really isn’t.

It will feel better when it stops hurting.

Feeling Better After the Pain

If you cut your finger it hurts.  You wince, say some choice words, and perhaps you even jump up and down a little.  The initial shock subsides, and then the throbbing sets in.  For the next week or two it’s painful and you probably even complain a bit.  But after it heals, it stops hurting.  It feels better when it stops hurting.  That’s what we expect.

If you have your heart broken, or hurt by the passing of a loved one, it hurts.  You likely cry, you may shake your fist at God, and you may lie in bed for a day or two trying to numb the pain.  For the next week, or month, or year, it’s painful and you likely complain about it a bit.  But after a while, it stops hurting.  It feels better when it stops hurting.  That’s what we expect.

Time Heals all Wounds

There’s an old adage that says, “Time heals all wounds.”  Many years ago I learned that, and over time it seemed that wounds were indeed healed.  But there’s a little more to the healing process than just using time.

When you rely only on time to heal the wounds, the wounds don’t completely heal up.  Triggers can open them again, and you can end up pretty close to square one and have to start the process over again.  Things that you believed that you were past were once again open and had to be dealt with.

We’re talking about wounds of the heart here.

Instead of relying on just time to heal those wounds, there’s a better way.  Instead of time heals all wounds, we should say that God heals all wounds.  God heals those wounds, and the method that He uses is time.  But if we fail to trust God, and to ask for his guidance when it comes to healing our wounds, then we end up just covering them up.  When we only rely on time, we risk opening the wounds later because the proper ointment wasn’t used.

God Makes it Feel Better

It will feel better when it stops hurting.  But it’s going to start hurting again if we don’t go through the proper steps to ensure that it is healed properly.

Are you relying on time to heal your wounds, or are you relying on God to do the bulk of the work (and use time) to heal all wounds?