I wrote this post after a tough weekend being around some hurt people. It’s been sitting awhile and is a little on the serious side, but I’m going to share it, anyway. I hope you, dear reader, are not in a place of hurt or, if you are, you will realize that so much beauty is waiting on the other side of it.
“Hurt people hurt people.” I think that phrase was from a Rick Warren Bible study I did. I’ve really never been the same since hearing it.
Because it’s true. I now see all the brokenness in this world, in people. Even in people I love. Even in me. Why are we all so broken?
I don’t have the answers. But this I know. I know that I don’t want to hurt other people. So I am working on me. Working on not being a person that passes on her junk to others.
On not assuming I know other people’s motives.
On not assimilating anything hurtful someone says.
On not judging other people who make choices I wouldn’t make.
On forgiving.
On loving.
That pretty much sounds like a lifelong project, doesn’t it?
The only person I can work on is me. I can’t talk other people out of their hurt. I’ve tried. Really, what I’ve discovered is that not everybody wants to leave it. I think because even though it hurts, it has become familiar, comfortable, less scary than the unknown of stepping outside of it. Hurt can become a dwelling place. Leaving it behind requires courage. And, oftentimes, humility.
I am so happy that I have Jesus, who is friends with the brokenhearted. He says himself that it is the sick that need a doctor, not the healthy. He was my healer when I was hurting oh so many years ago. And now, as I walk with Him through this life, I know the truth of His words that “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.” I’m so grateful that I have found the way. The Way.
My prayer is that all those who are hurting will find it.