Continuing Pastor Obie's message, he asks: How do you deal with suffering when life hurts you? How can we be happy and know that we are blessed in the midst of hurt? The first thing that Pastor Obie wants to tell you about turning from hurt to happy is: Do not focus on the hurt. Now, don’t ignore the hurt. You have to acknowledge the hurt, but do not let that which hurts you become the primary focus. In order to move past the hurt, you must place your focus forward, past the hurt. In verse 13, the Apostle writes that we are to “rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad WHEN his glory is revealed.” Now, “when” is a moment in time that is past the trials that are causing the suffering. See, do not focus on the hurt; place your focus forward, beyond it. Only then can you rejoice and be glad in the midst of the hurt. It is not about making the hurt go away or changing your circumstance (though it would be nice and sometimes necessary). This kind of joy is the kind that no matter what are the circumstances, trials or pain that you face in this Christian life, you can still find joy and gladness, knowing that you are blessed if you do this first: Don’t focus on the hurt.
Pastor Obie wants you to be aware of three negative things that focusing on the hurt does. (1) Focusing on the hurt blinds you. Have you heard the expression that someone is so mad that they are seeing “red”. This is speaking about being blinded by emotion. When you focus on the hurt, you are reliving those moments and restoking the emotions of anger, sadness, depression and these emotions blind you. Generally, good things do not happen when we act out of emotion. You need to step back and engage the logical side of your brain to assess the situation in order to make wise choices moving forward. But, focusing primarily on that which hurts you, it blinds you and keep you from doing that successfully. Humans are the only creatures on the planet that have the ability to imagine something, then manifest that imagination into reality. We can take a scenario that is purely in our mind, and then manifest it outwardly in physical reactions. Refocusing on the hurt, restokes the emotions that blind you.
The next thing that focusing on the hurt does is that (2) it stops you from moving forward. It is difficult to see and move forward towards a positive resolution and solutions when you are consistently blinded and stuck reliving the hurts of the past. You must stay in the present and look forward to the future. Fight the urge to relive the pain of the past over and over again. You cannot go back and find happiness there. You can only find happy in what you decide to do next by moving forward. Do not allow the past to haunt you.
Lastly, (3) focusing on the hurt keeps you from healing. Having that which hurts you be the primary focus in your mind reopens the wound every time you allow it to take up real estate in your thoughts. Picking at the scabs of previous injuries disrupts the healing process, and that is what you are allowing to happen when you allow the wounds of hardships consume your mind. Let it go and leave it alone. Make space for the healing process to begin. If the hurt is caused by interpersonal relational injury, then the doorway to healing is forgiveness. You need to forgive yourself and the other person. That is what Jesus did for us while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8), so we should as well model that forgiveness. As Christians (people that follow Jesus), that is our standard. Secondly, Jesus commands us to forgive others, basically an unlimited amount of times per Matthew 18:23-35, as we have been forgiven. Thirdly, because true healing is only found on the other side of forgiveness. Only when we are able to let go of bitterness, are we able to make space to let forgiveness in. Then the true human healing process can begin. Do not let someone who hurt you in the past have power over your present. Forgiveness is how you take that power back. Forgiveness allow you to not be blinded by the hurt. Forgiveness gets you unstuck from the past and to move forward. Forgiveness allows you to be fully here.
How do you move from hurt to happy again? You have to cross a bridge. This is the main point of the message that Pastor Obie wants you to grasp, understand and remember. The bridge that will move you from hurt to happy is hope. Hope bridges the divide. The faster that you can move your focus from that which hurts you onto that which you can hope for in any situation, the quicker you can make you way back to being happy, “markarios” – being blessed. You see, the definition of hope is: to expect with confidence; to trust. At the core of hope is trust. The key is found in verse 19, “Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” What do you do when you are sufferings and hurting? You put your trust in that which is beyond the hurt. Into that which transcends the suffering. You put your trust in your faithful Creator.
Let's continue Pastor Obie's message on turning hurt into happy in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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