April 10

Living in a Wound

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  ––Philippians 4:7

Remember the old phrase, “Stop kicking the dog”? That’s when someone has been hurt, rejected, or otherwise put out, and then proceeds to take out his emotions on those around him––folks and family members who had nothing to do with what happened in the first place.  One way or another, we all give the dog a quick boot following losses and hurts that we experience in our relationships. And we spend the rest of our adult lives either making others pay or, with God’s help, making them pay less and less.

When God’s man lives out of a wound, he withdraws himself from God and people––and that only spells trouble. To put it simply: No one likes the feelings produced from blowing it and causing harm to the relationships they deem important. It is precisely at this moment that the world, the flesh, and Satan love to offer God’s man new feelings from an enticing menu.

Millions of grown men have been abandoned by their earthy fathers, and millions more have experienced the losses resulting from that missing part of themselves. It is for this very reason that Jesus opened a way to His own Father––to share Him with us so that we can find the love that is missing in our hearts.

When Samuel came to Jesse’s home in search of the future king, David’s dad didn’t even include him in the lineup of his sons. Samuel, however, was on assignment from God: he knew that the sons standing in front of him were not the one. So he asked Jesse, “Do you have any other sons?” (See 1 Samuel 16). David was such an afterthought to his father that his response is the equivalent of, “Well yeah, but he’s not worth looking at.” Of course, David was the one God had anointed to be king.

Is it any wonder that David suffered from father wounds? His own dad thought so little of him that he presented his other seven sons before Samuel, but not young David. We see this father wound play out in David’s life through one sin and tragedy after another. And yet, David loved the Lord with His whole heart, and that made all the difference in his healing.

Our part is simply to allow God to love on us by coming to Him the way any boy would come to a loving Father. When God’s man builds this connection with his heavenly Father, he experiences increasing levels of self-control because God heals the wounds from the past that cause his out-of-control behaviors.

Father, help me to move from living in the past to living in the future with You.