The Queen of Bruises

I looked at the bruise on my leg this morning and tried to think again why it had appeared there.  I must have run into something, but I don’t remember specifically why it is there.  And it is big and purple-ish yellow.  I don’t remember why it appeared, and though I chose the length of my pants today to be sure it is covered from sight, my body won’t let me deny I had a moment of pain recently.

 I have bruised easily since I was a kid.  Many times they would appear, and like today, I wasn’t sure what I had done.  Clutz-y equals bruise-y.  One summer though, I vividly remember my tennis doubles partner accidentally serving a ball to the back of my leg.  There has been no forgetting the one legitimate sports injury of my life, but I’ve long forgiven the friend who inflicted it upon me. 

Other than some initial ice packs, we don’t have to tend to bruises on our bodies.  We wait.  They fade. Emotional hurts can be like that. If my collection of physical bruises had never faded, I would look like a walking grape.  On the other hand, memories of some of my emotional hurts have not faded.  Because of this, I have days when I walk around like a sour grape.  That’s the bitterness we are warned of in the Bible over and over again.  Hebrews 12:15 explains,  “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled…”

Christian recording artist Kathy Troccoli tells of a moment with a friend’s child.  Kathy was headed off to pray and asked the child if she had anything she could pray about for her.  The child looked at Kathy with big brown eyes.  “This,” she said, pointing to a bruise on her leg.  “And this,” she said pointing to another on her other leg.” Kathy says, “When I got to my room I pondered the fact that as a child of God my requests that day were not that much different than her little friend’s.  Her bruises had landed on her legs, and mine had landed in my heart. The Lord continues to heal and restore the wounded places in me as I allow Him access.  The process is, at times, so painful that I want to just ignore it and live my life as best I can.  But I do believe that we are just as sick as our secrets.”

In Ezekiel 36:26 we are given a beautiful picture and a promise.  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you.  I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  It’s tempting to want that heart of stone back for those times when friends, family and even acquaintances serve pain our way. The hurts usually speed their way to us through words that sting or through actions which can send our lives spinning in an undesired direction.

Let’s choose to believe God’s wisdom and reasons today.  He would not have transformed our hearts from stone to flesh only to leave us vulnerable to constant bruising.  Our hearts of flesh and the emotional injuries they receive are meant to send us to the Healer who specializes in wounds and who can prevent festering which leads to bitterness. 
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Whether you know the origin of a specific hurt you carry, or you only know in general that your heart has known pain, ask God to tend to you.  He knows and can still see the origin every “Ouch!”.  He can send helpers, even years after an injury, to attend to you.  Look for a listener instead of hiding behind a longer pair of pants.

​By: Lisa C., Community Member
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