The Hurt SpiralSample

HURT + HURT = HURT

Let us give King David some credit today. After listening to some wise counsel, he decided to break the hurtful silence between Absalom and himself (2 Samuel 14). With some terms and conditions attached.

David wasn’t willing to let go of the hurt completely. He was ready to forgive Absalom but also wanted to make sure that his hurt was not forgotten. He arranged for Absalom to be brought back to Jerusalem, but there was a condition. “But the king gave this order: ‘Absalom may go to his own house, but he must never come into my presence.’ So Absalom did not see the king” (2 Samuel 14:24, NLT). Say what?!

David’s halfhearted attempt at reconciliation just made the situation worse. I can think of few things as painful as being within walking distance of someone you love, but being told that they didn’t want to see you.

Jesus gets straight to the point again centuries later. In Matthew 5, Jesus explains the snowball effect that happens when anger and hurt are left to linger. Anger becomes hatred; hatred becomes murder, and murder becomes life in hell (v. 22). Unsettled differences quickly grow out of hand, and we end up in heart prisons that we have created for ourselves (v. 25-26).

Wholehearted surrender of hurt is so important to Jesus that He would give up our worship for it. “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-24, NLT).

Is there a hurtful situation in your life that has left some debris behind? How is that little piece of leftover hurt affecting your life?

Let us ask God to show us the places in our hearts that still need to be cleaned out from hurt. And let us follow his lead towards peace and freedom. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalms 139:23-24, NLT).