The doctor walked into the hospital room and stepped up to the side of her bed. The nurses scurried to prepare the necessary items he would need to redress the wound. The woman in the bed had been dreading this moment for the last hour. Her heart was racing with fear, knowing the pain that she would have to endure when he began to work. The nurses had sedated her with a pain killer, but even with strong medication, the woman knew how it would be. Also adding pain, and great fear, was the seemingly uncaring attitude of the doctor, doing his job as a machine would operate and barely looking at his patient. He began the process.
Bandages and dressings were removed that left an unimaginable gaping wound. The initial surgery that had been done was to repair an abdominal hernia. But another doctor who had performed the procedure had unknowingly nicked the bowel, and ten days later the woman had been rushed back to the hospital with expectations of an almost surely fatal outcome from the foul and deadly infection that had filled her body. Her wound, because of earlier surgeries, was seventeen inches vertically and seven inches deep. It was left open to heal. The color of the tissue was an angry crimson because of the infection. To properly heal and clean the wound the dressings needed to be changed every four hours. These dressings that packed the wound before bandaging were soaked in a mixture of distilled water, baking soda, and pure bleach. The medical term for it is called Dakins. The doctor prepared this mixture each time, and the woman was sure he purposely prepared it too strong. The pain of this mixture on her open, burning wound was beyond words. The only thing this woman could think about for the last hour was how she was going to be able to endure this procedure one more time.
Many times our hidden emotional wounds are just as deep and just as painful to heal as our physical ones. Preparing the wounds to heal is frightening. Sometimes it makes us so fearful that we reject the medicines and the process. Many times the painkillers we use will cover the pain just long enough for us to function normally so no one will see the hurt or the scars, but eventually, we must have more painkillers and cover the wounds with new and bigger bandages. Toward the end, the bandages won't be big enough. The pain will overpower us. Symptoms of the brutal infection creep out into the open, and we bleed involuntarily, and we cry out with sudden pangs of anger at those we love or anyone who has the misfortune of being in our path.
People will wonder at these symptoms, but when we cover up the real problems well enough they will think the behavior must be a part of our character and walk away, never knowing that what we need most is to remove all the bandages, take away the hurtful dressings we have stuffed into the gaping wounds, and let the sore heal completely. Many times our wounds heal only when we painstakingly remove the scabs, clean, medicate, and repeat this process until the problem has healed on the inside as well as the out. Emotional and spiritual healing from the inside out takes diligent counsel. It is like going to war with a hidden enemy that attacks from all angles and at a moment's notice, using weapons of which you've never seen or heard. Emotional and spiritual carnage will remain, leaving you to attempt the battle with nothing more than wet tissues and an endless stream of tears. And God.
People will wonder at these symptoms, but when we cover up the real problems well enough they will think the behavior must be a part of our character and walk away, never knowing that what we need most is to remove all the bandages, take away the hurtful dressings we have stuffed into the gaping wounds, and let the sore heal completely. Many times our wounds heal only when we painstakingly remove the scabs, clean, medicate, and repeat this process until the problem has healed on the inside as well as the out. Emotional and spiritual healing from the inside out takes diligent counsel. It is like going to war with a hidden enemy that attacks from all angles and at a moment's notice, using weapons of which you've never seen or heard. Emotional and spiritual carnage will remain, leaving you to attempt the battle with nothing more than wet tissues and an endless stream of tears. And God.
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| The Author Shirley Johnson Schmuck |
This story isn't over, because the real healing comes when all the pain, all the heartache, all the anger, all these affectations and problems are completely placed in the hands of a loving Father, God Almighty. He has created us. Therefore, every attack that we face, whether it be mental, physical or spiritual, is an attack that can have no foothold in our lives when He is allowed to be in charge of it all. Victory is His claim through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ. And that victory can be our claim if we choose to release it all to Him.
No. The story is not over. There is so much more to come and look forward to. There's no need for apprehension or fear, no need of pain killers and bandaids. There may be pain in the healing, but, in the end, the victory is so sweet that the memory of the pain will be all that's left of it.
