Jesus Soothes Hurts
To those you have punished, they add insult to injury; they scoff at the pain of those you have hurt. -- Psalm 69:26
A friend recently came home from a family affair wishing she hadn’t bothered to attend. Her bruised feelings were obvious to everyone -- except the person who had caused them.
Or maybe that person did know. Some people take great joy in reminding folks of who they once were. They feel power in talking down to others. They see themselves as superior when they look at the past sins of others.
It’s sad to think that some people get their own “self-worth” by putting others down. But they do. Our heads tell us to feel sorry for them. But our hearts ache at the injustice of it all.
I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t have something in their past they’d prefer to forget. Something they wish nobody knew. Something they wish no one would ever bring up again. But there’s always somebody determined to make sure that they, and everyone else, never forgets.
In my friend’s case, she was a wild child when she was younger. She caused her family a lot of grief. Of course, we won’t talk about the pain they caused her by always talking down to and about her. Funny thing about kids, especially as they become teenagers: They’ll pretty much try to live down to your opinion of them and they’ll do all they can to hide the pain of parental rejection by acting out and pretending it doesn’t exist. But that’s another topic for another day.
Some things never seem to change. People who are verbally abusive -- and don’t see it in themselves -- continue their ways. Fortunately, my friend changed the course of her life when she accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. She has changed her ways. And she has come to value herself just as Jesus values her.
The Bible tells us to forgive and I know she tries. She maintains a relationship with someone who doesn’t deserve her. She makes sure her children know the family that, while rejecting their mother, has embraced them. It is hard and still she does what she knows is right.
God understands her pain. He knows how difficult this situation is and He strengthens her. Her friends rally around her, praying that she will feel His peace and that those who enjoy hurting her -- people she loves despite everything -- will one day come to know Jesus as she does.
Jesus changes everything and everyone. He died so that we could live. He gives hope to all of us in all things -- including painful relationships.
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