Healing the Wounded Heart

{Affiliate links used. Thanks for supporting this blog.}

Sometimes it takes a lifetime to heal. A lifetime of learning how to overcome the hurts that we encounter. It has been my life goal to heal, forgive, and be as whole as possible regardless of what has happened to me. When I get to the end of life I don't want to be bitter and angry. I want to be free to love others and free of the fear that past hurts have produced in me. The process isn't for the faint of heart because sometimes the healing hurts as bad as the wounding. It is work...hard work.

Thom Gardner has written a thought-provoking book, Healing the Wounded Heart: Removing Obstacles to Intimacy with God. Gardner does an excellent job of describing what has happened to us and our hearts when we are wounded. Wounds produce lies we begin to believe and then live out. The goal for the wounded person is to get rid of the lies that have controlled them since the hurt occurred. 

Gardner goes through seven issues that wounded people tend to struggle with. I would have to say that I have battled every one of these...

Fear, Rejection, Worthlessness, Shame, Insecurity, Defilement, and Hopelessness

The chapter on fear touched my heart. I struggle with anxiety, and the fear of being hurt all over again. Using an Old Testament story, Gardner shows how God is always with us. He is even with us as we are being wounded. So many times we think He must not have been there otherwise He would have stopped it. Not true. He is always there with us. The answer to our fears is a God that won't ever leave us. We can trust that whatever He allows in our lives His aim is always to love us lavishly.

On the day of our wounding, He was already leading us to the day of healing in His presence. -Thom Gardner

What a comfort to know our hurt is not the end of the story. He desperately wants us whole and healed. If you are struggling with old wounds or maybe even fresh ones, Gardner's book can help you start the process of healing. My prayer for anyone reading this is that God will touch your heart and make you whole.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gardner has a companion book to Healing the Wounded Heart that is excellent! It is more of a journal of sorts. The Healing Journey has 100+ verses that you can meditate and journal on to help with healing. I am currently working through this book, and have grown so much through it! It is helping me see God for who He really is. It is revealing some skewed thinking on my part which has slowed the healing process. I highly recommend it!

For a more complete list of books to help with emotional healing, see this post.