Overcoming Father Wounds a 7-Day Reading Play by Kia Stephensናሙና

Day 2: Acknowledge our father wounds.

She said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed. Matthew 9: 21 NIV

By design, we’re wired to love our fathers, and as a result things can get complicated when we are tasked with admitting we have father wounds. In the name of love and happiness, we’re tempted to cover a multitude of wrongs on his part. For the sake of keeping the family gatherings upbeat, we would rather not say anything and just let bygones be bygones.

We don’t want to be the family member who ruins the get-together, so we either remain silent, withdraw, become a different version of ourselves, or avoid the gathering altogether. For many of us, we wrestle with the reality that acknowledging our wounds may depict our father in a negative light. It may place a blemish on his reputation and diminish who he is in the eyes of others.

For this reason we may opt to protect our fathers and conceal our pain—sometimes for years, sometimes forever. I get it and I’ve done it, but this won’t help us overcome our father wounds. What it will do is keep the door to our healing and wholeness padlocked.

I understand the temptation to ignore, dismiss, deny, and pretend when it comes to our father wounds. I want to encourage you to glean from the courage of the woman with an issue of blood and pursue healing no matter what it costs you.

Remember how she made her way through a crowd that had no understanding of all the days and ways she had suffered? Before she could make the courageous journey through that crowd she first had to acknowledge that she wanted to be well.

She did this when she said, ““If I only touch his cloak, I will be healed.” This is our first step too. We need to admit that we have father wounds and that we want to be well. Acknowledge where you have been wounded by your father but simultaneously embrace the reality that we do not have to stay there. Think about the unnamed woman’s resolve to reach out to Jesus, and press your way through every obstacle that stands between you and your healing. The first obstacle is admitting you have father wounds.

How have I been wounded by my father?