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WHEN WE HURT: A Spiritual Intervention (Part 7 of 25)

The presence of pain is hiding inside of spiritual people. Is God enough when we are hurting?

A SPIRITUAL INTERVENTION

There are things that we don’t talk about in the church. People are hurting who are sitting next to us. Do we know what to say to them? Can we help them? How do we help them? If we know about the area of pain—often we don’t because the sensitive stuff is hidden from view—do we brush them aside or give a pat answer to a deep-seated issue? We may find ourselves thinking; I wonder how much is God, them, or other factors?

When we choose to help people in a genuine way, we start asking the harder questions. From this we learn that there are serious issues that believers in God are struggling with to overcome in their lives. We want to sort it out and make sense of it. Is it sin? Is it rebellion? Is it a lack of trust in God or lack of following in obedience?

So, we wonder what gives or whether there is help for the pain? Is it a spiritual splinter that can’t be removed or fixed? Then we notice the despair, the struggle, the unhappiness. Shouldn’t there be more evidence that the spiritual walk is doable and works? It gets confusing.

We begin to search for a common denominator. We delve deeper. We are determined to explain what is missing or what went wrong.

The questions compile and the answers are complex. We meet more and more people struggling with their Christian walk, living in defeat rather than in victory. What can we do to help? Why do some Christian people sink into depression? Why do others drink themselves to oblivion? Why are they workaholics? Why do some avoid life, run and hide, and then go and repeat the cycle, hurting more people—the casualties—as they barrel ahead going from church to church or partner to partner.

The contradictions are relentless. Why do some individuals build a small empire of stuff? Why do other people give up? Why do some Christians complain about anything and everything, become negative, critical, cynical, and act in unpleasant ways? Even more complex, why do good Christian people hide their deepest heartaches and act as if everything is okay, when it is not okay? How have word curses or negative experiences from long ago or in recent days, hurt and destroyed the person’s inner belief about their personhood?

And, and, and… and then it zings home. The real truth. There’s more to this.

This is also about me! I, too, have some inner pain. I’ve forgotten about, that. I don’t want to think about that incident. That hurt. It’s too painful. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture yourself back in the memory in the midst of your pain, feeling the hopelessness, sadness, embarrassment. Maybe you lost your employment, finances, or that person who was important to you. Maybe you compromised your values, disappointed your parents and in the process destroyed their belief in you, or you used poor judgment on an important decision. Maybe someone in the church caused harm and destruction which became a breeding ground of conflicted emotions inside of you.

Whatever the issue was, it has caused a separation and a deadness. It’s that “alone” feeling, the isolating place that walls you off from others. It may be one of those things you don’t talk about; it’s embarrassing, or shameful, or hurtful, uncomfortable, sad, or might seem silly to others. In each of us, there are times when everyone seems distant. There are areas in our lives where they aren’t allowed in.

You finally get it. This is a big deal. One that’s not going to fade away. Other matters begin to seem less important. You may wonder to yourself, will they find a way out? Will I find a way out? Is there a solution to this spiritual condition, the misery that hides, that never finds its hope, that keeps people feeling entrapped?

Have you ever felt that kind of aloneness, that separation, that suffocating feeling?

If you have, there is a solution but not a solution people readily take advantage of or even know about.There is always hope. Never forget that, there is always a new tomorrow even in the darkness.

The things we don't talk about in church trip us up. Here's why.
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Our next post will explore this subject in more depth.

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©N. L. Brumbaugh

 

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A SPECIAL VALENTINE MOMENT: LOVE RE-KINDLED

A VALENTINE’S DAY STORY – 2014

I have this friend who has struggled with her marriage relationship for as long as I have known her. Not a first marriage for either of them, but the first Christian marriage for both of them. Their religious belief is what brought them together initially, the opportunity for a better second marriage, becoming the focus of a union based on Christian living. But, as is often the case, it was not easy. There were the children from both marriages and its stressful dynamic. There were the unresolved issues from their first marriages, a carry-over from the hurt and rejection they both had experienced. Greater than these areas was a lack of understanding on how to make love work for them. One partner seemed to dominate the relationship and the other had some areas that needed attention as well. Several times they went to their minister for counsel, independently and also as a couple.

blog miracles & heart picThey both wanted the marriage to be successful and to bring them happiness, but happiness seemed to elude them. They went through job losses, family troubles, and financial crises. Life was hard. Then it came to a point that one summer she left him, not for someone else but because something had to change between them. The love was there in a remote place hard to access. The impossibility of it all had created a deadness deep inside her, and I assume, deep inside him as well. He missed her, wanted her to come back. People at church didn’t know what was going on. He seemed lost without her. With his promise to try to work on their relationship and to be more attentive, she came back a couple of months later. They recommitted their purpose together.

Those of us from the outside looking in could see a spark beginning to be rekindled. We saw them both trying. He became more gentle with her in his speech, more demonstrative by putting his arm around her as they sat in church. She was less to complain about him to her friends, less to voice frustration with him. They led in a children’s ministry and made it blossom, keeping their stuff to themselves as they worked together side-by-side, choosing to be united in front of others. It couldn’t have been easy with their personalities and past history. He was the more vocal in public, expressing his desire to be the man God wanted him to be–and meaning it. He would ask difficult questions about living the Christian life, about how to let go of the things that hinder, to move in the direction of a man who is an authentic seeker of God. It was good to watch. I saw in her this same desire, to be a woman after God’s own heart. She would talk to me about her wishes in the spiritual realm.

However, something was still elusive in their relationship. They couldn’t seem to connect on an emotional level, to feel things as one, to be in harmony.

Valentine’s Day, 2014, ushered in a new beginning for this couple. She told me about it in person a couple of weeks later. We were talking about other church-related topics. After I remarked how I have seen positive changes in both she and her mate, I asked her how they were doing these days. She began to share a story with me. We were like sisters, sharing a joy after the days of sorrow have passed. Here is her story.

She walked in the door in the late afternoon on Valentine’s Day, weary from her work. The first thing she noticed was the table set all fancy like with candles, nice dishes, and a bouquet of flowers. The house smelt delicious and her husband was busy in the kitchen. He greeted her with a hug and smile and then returned to cooking dinner. The music was playing as they ate by candlelight. This was different than ever before. There was something about him that was extra attentive. After they ate, he said to her, “Why don’t we dance?” They turned up the music and began to dance. Tears began to flow. He asked her why she was crying.

“This is what I’ve always wanted,” she said to him while nestled in his warm embrace.

“I know you have. But I never knew how to give my love to you, how to show you,” he replied, his voice expressing regret.

“What happened? Why now?” She asked him.

With softness in his eyes, he replied, “Last night when we were singing that song about love with the children at church, my heart was touched.” And then, “That lesson that Jennifer gave for Valentine’s Day explaining the different types of love, somehow, while she was talking about Agape’ love, I finally understood it. I can’t explain it, but suddenly I knew what was missing, and saw how I didn’t know how to live out my love for you and was keeping myself from expressing it to you. It’s like something clicked. I knew I needed to show you how much you mean to me. I want you to be happy.”

My friend turned to me and smiled. I was so happy for her. I knew how much she had longed for his love and to rest in it, to feel secure in it, and how she had prayed for years that something would change between them. I asked if I could share her story in a blog as a way to encourage others who are discouraged with their mates and marriage. She nodded.

As in many things, the wait may be long but that isn’t necessarily the end of the story.

Miracles still happen.