Hurting

I attended State House Girls High School – a boarding school. We were locked up like inmates and were only let out twice a term. The only other opportunity to escape the confines of our ‘prison’ was to get a day-pass to attend a function of one of the school’s clubs. The wise among us would join as many clubs as possible in order to get as many opportunities to leave the school. Momma raised no fool – so I belonged to about 5 clubs. It so happened that the Geography Club was slated to travel out-of-town on a day trip with our Club’s brother school; Lenana Boys aka the Changerians. As you can imagine, this was a hot ticket outing. There were more girls than tickets for the trip – and so the most fair thing to do was to place ‘yes’ and ‘no’ pieces of paper in a hat and ask the Club members to pick one. In the history of draws and games of chance, I have never won a thing – not a one! And this time was no exception. My best friend on the other hand picked a ‘yes’. I was very upset, obviously. See she and I had already started planning the trip. We had already identified whose uniform and whose shoes we would borrow for the trip (I mean, we had to look our best!) I had planned to borrow Tesha’s shoes, Emma’s skirt, and Shiro’s sleeveless sweater.

After missing out on the trip, I left the 2^nd floor common room in a huff. Rather than walk down the stairs, I decided to slide down the banister – hands free at that – to add some much needed spice to my utterly devastated life (oh the drama-filled life of a teenager – the sky is always falling!) It all started out really well until as I approached the bottom, I started to bob back and forth. Rather than doing what any normal human would do in that situation…i.e. hold the handrail… I decided to bail; make a jump for the bottom of the stairs. Needless to say, it did NOT end well. The girls found me at the bottom of the stairs in a heap – doubled over in pain, crying my little eyes out, my foot increasing in size every 2 seconds. The school’s matron followed the sounds of my screams and found me. She called my parents and I was taken to the hospital in the morning. Diagnosis? A broken bone and an 8-week leg cast. It didn’t take long for jokes to fly that I was trying to commit suicide for missing out on the Geography trip (insert eye roll) LOL.

My beloved best friend was so sweet though. She gave away her chance to go on the trip in order to stay and take care of me…. not!! She wasn’t going to miss out on a very rare chance to hang out with the hunky Changerians! She left me with her best wishes, laced up her borrowed shoes, and sashayed out of that school without a care in the world. When she got back however, she had had an epiphany and was very apologetic for having left me…again, not! She was only too happy to regale me with all the awesome tales of her fabulous outing; adding salt to injury! I don’t blame her though because I would have totally done the same thing.

Have you ever noticed that it is not hard to identify someone who is unwell? They change their walking style in order to relieve pressure/weight from the injured part. They treat the injured part so gently and gingerly, taking extra precaution to protect it from further hurt. Amazing plans and ‘trips of a lifetime’ have been cancelled on account of an injury. Even if I had gotten a ‘yes’, I wouldn’t have been able to go to the much coveted outing on account of my broken foot. You see, the body doesn’t discriminate against its lesser members. The whole body will team together to ensure the fast recovery of its injured part; no matter how ‘insignificant’ the part is.  Even appetite will be suppressed in order to redirect the body’s resources towards healing, as opposed to ‘wasting’ them on digestion.

This made me think of two things: One… how do we as the body of Christ, or we as families or friends, treat the hurting, troubled and suffering members within our midst? Do we abandon them to fend for themselves in their hour of need, or do we band together around them to nurse them back to wholeness? If they fall short of the standards we place on them, do we offer them unconditional love and rally around them anyway, or do we turn our faces from them? How about me? How do I treat the hurting around me? Do I make changes in my life to accommodate and minister to them? Or do I carry on with my life oblivious of their pain and anguish?

Two… when we are hurting, we are sometimes quick to say that God doesn’t care about us; that He hates us; that He is punishing us. But God is the one who designed our bodies – and we are all witnesses of the amazing ways our bodies support their hurting organs. How much more then does the Designer of said bodies care? Psalm 34:18 says The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 23:4 says Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 46:1 says God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Isaiah 41:10 says Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

If you are hurting and find yourself in a place of abandonment (real or perceived), or if you feel like no one cares that your world is crumbling around you, allow me to leave you with this encouraging word: Though my mother and father forsake me, the Lord will hold me close (Psalm 27:10) – and trust me, God will hold you close. I would also encourage you to listen to this beautiful song (It Is Well) that will for sure lift up your spirits. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNqo4Un2uZI

If you found this post helpful please share with others (buttons below). 

If you don’t want to miss a posting, scroll below (mobile browsing)  or above (desktop browsing) to subscribe to receive postings via e-mail. You may also like our Facebook page or Twitter page.