The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end (Isaiah 60:20 NIV).

As I was digging in the unyielding soil of my flowerbed recently, I burst a blister in the palm of my hand. It was very painful and I kept it covered with a Band-Aid. However, I soon realized that although the Band-Aid protected my wound, it also kept the sore area from getting the air that it needed to heal. When I removed the protective covering, the oozing stopped almost immediately and healing began.

As I thought about my experience, I was reminded of how often, in a similar way, we try to cover our emotional wounds. As a part of the process, we erect walls, shutting out people and relationships, hoping to protect ourselves from more pain. However, the hidden wounds do not heal, and the pain we feel in our self-imposed isolation is without remedy.

Often, it is only as we bring our festering wounds into the openness of safe relationships with God and other people that they begin to heal. If we experience more pain in this process, God will be with us teaching us that even these growing pains are a part of our journey to wholeness.

Father, forgive us for choosing the perceived safety of darkness to the unknown benefits of exposing our wounds to the light.  Help us remember that darkness breeds unhealthy emotional bacteria. Amen

The Lord will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end (Isaiah 60:20 NIV).