"Joy Beyond the Sorrow"

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning

                                                                                          - Psalm 30:4b

There is an old adage with which you are probably familiar: "Time heals all wounds." This sounds nice and comforting. I often allow myself to think it is true, and quite frequently, it really does feel true. We are all wounded - I firmly believe that. Some people much more so than others, but that doesn't change the fact that we all have real wounds. This is the reality of living in a sinful and fallen world. Some wounds are deeper than others. Maybe yours are the wounds of broken family, abuse, the loss of a loved one, broken friendships and even intimate relationships. The list could go on. When the tragedy occurs, you feel like your world will never be the same. But perhaps several weeks later, several months, even several years later, you might say you have “moved on.” The adage feels true – you’ve learned to accept the reality, and to keep living.

Time heals all wounds.

But does it? Really, time on its own serves as a bandaid. It covers the wound so we can go about the day-to-day, without everyone seeing the bleeding mess that we really are. If we wear a bandaid over the wound, no one has to know just how deep the wound really is. But underneath, if we ever pull back the bandaid for a quick peak, or if something comes along that completely tears the bandaid off, what we normally find is that the wound has not healed itself. Underneath the bandaid new skin can’t form. At the very least, it remains an open sore. Often times, it gets infected, and turns out to be much worse.

Covering up some of my deep wounds felt good for a while. And then, in my first semester of interning with RUF, a situation similar to my own wounding knocked the bandage off, and showed me just how dark and festering this wound really was. I had thought time and distance was enough to heal me, and so the stench and infection of this wound sent me into a deep depression. I tried to put the bandage back on, but I was starting to see that a bandaid just wouldn’t be enough.

Perhaps you can relate. I’m talking about one particular wound here, but I can think of many other examples even in my own life. It seems that time does not heal all wounds. So where do we go?

Time does not heal all wounds; Jesus does.

Yes, it is that simple, and yet goes so deep. It was not until I began seeing a Christian counselor that we began really digging deep into the wound. It was painful, and I resisted. I really thought maybe we could just clean up the surface, but the infection was well below the skin. Friends and pastors prayed for me, and encouraged me to go deeper. And as I did, as I relived some of the pain, not only in the counselor’s office, but (reluctantly) in my diary, with friends, with my pastor, and most importantly, with Jesus, I began to see something incredible. It was painful, yes! Not only that, some of it was revolting. I didn’t look clean and neat; I had to let people see the wound. Yet, they didn’t run away disgusted. They showed me Jesus: Jesus, who came to the Cross to suffer the ultimate wounding for me! To be hurt and wounded and to take on my hurt and wounding. I started to see Jesus working on the wound, digging into it, cleaning it out with the antiseptic of His blood, and bringing healing, even as He held me in the process.

No, it is not time that heals our wounds, it is Jesus. I’m learning that being vulnerable about those areas of hurt and struggle are like refusing to put a bandaid on the scrapes and cuts, and learning to let the Church, the Body of Christ look at the ugliness and apply the salve of the Gospel.

For me, this means a lot of tears when I would like to be put-together. It means asking for prayer in places where I know that I am struggling. It means seeking wisdom and counsel when the issues are just too big to handle. It looks messy, but Jesus enters into messy places. Read the Gospels – this is what He loves to do!

These are lessons I am still learning, but it is beautiful to see Jesus at work. Moreover, as we learn to look at and be vulnerable with our own wounds among the Body of Christ, we can learn better to have mercy and patience with others who have been wounded, to apply the Gospel to their wounds as well.

Through the process, we do receive healing. But this healing is only possible through Christ! Sometimes the healing process takes longer than others; sometimes, it might look like the wound is only getting worse, or that just as it is getting better, something else comes along to aggravate it. But the promise of Scripture holds true: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.”

Post Script:

 **Indelible Grace has put out a wonderful album, “Joy Beyond the Sorrow” that deals expressly with this topic, using the lyrics of many old hymn writers set to beautiful new tunes. This CD was given to me as a gift after a particularly deep wound at the end of last year. The message of the Gospel for those who are wounded and bruised is so sweet and clear in the music and lyrics. I don’t plug stuff a lot, but I will plug this album to you! Listen to it and get a copy here!**