The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear?
Prov. 18:14
There are certain things that I pray for every day. Every day I prayer for wisdom, understanding, knowledge and power. These are things I can only get from God. Then I pray that God will guide me. I pray He will help me to anticipate and avoid temptation; that He will guide me to someone who is lost so I can witness to them. Then I pray, every day, that God will guide me to someone who is hurting, because I know so many people are. I want to be God's tool to help that hurt, or at least hurt with them.
I have learned from this practice, that the worst type of hurt comes from one of two sources; a leader or a loved one. The hurt is greatest when it is either someone who is supposed to care for us, or when it is someone for whom we are caring. It usually comes in the form of rejection.
It all boils down to one of these two scenarios: "They were supposed to love and care for me, but did not." or, "I loved and cared for them and they rejected me." Most hurt falls into one of these two categories.
For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. Psalm 55:12
I guess the one that grieves me the most are those that were hurt by a church leader. There are many people out there who once served faithfully in church. But some pastor or some leader in the church, by their careless words or cruel manner, wounded that person, and now they are far from God.
There are those I know that have spent five years healing from the wounds inflicted by a pastor . The sad part is, the pastor will often claim he was, "standing strong" and, "they just can't take hot preaching." I believe in hot preaching as much as anybody. But a shepherd are supposed to seek wondering sheep, not butcher them. Our position must be right. But a wrong disposition can do as much, if not more damage.
God help us to be a healing source for those we serve.
Just a thought. Thank you for reading.
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ReplyDeleteBrother Mark you are right! We must be careful dealing with God's sheep! A Shepard should lead not drive the sheep! I pray God will help me to love our people as He loves them, for then and only then will I be the Shepard that He wants me to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting.
Very good post. I meet people almost every week that have been hurt by the "Prophet" that was supposed to be the one who helped them. This is a good reminder of our responsibility as men of God to the hurting among us.
ReplyDeleteMark, In talking about the worst kind of hurt, you are so right. Sometimes it takes time as we grow in Christ to see the seriousness of God wanting us to see others through His eyes, not our own.
ReplyDeleteI am not working full time at this point, but God has used this time to reposition my heart and life, to see the begger or the jobless as a person, not a bum. It has been very hard finding a job, degree or no degree. God has taught me to have more compassion instead of judgment and to help those who are hurting like you said here.
I'll be praying for you. I can tell God is whitewashing you for something great ahead. Don't give up.