Sunday, April 11, 2010

Visible and Invisible Wounds


By Jill Nutter

Well it's been a week of discussion about Battle Wounds. When I think of battle wounds I think of the struggle between good and evil. A spiritual tug-of-war with angels on one side of us and demons on the other. Since I’m a Christian I don’t see this tug-of-war as a battle for my soul because I know that I belong to God. But I do think that Satan enjoys tempting us and watching us struggle against things we may not fully comprehend, and takes joy in our sufferings.

Jesus died for my sins and yours and He wants us to live life to the full. It says so right here in: John 10:10 (NIV)"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." None of us can have life to the full if we allow the twin terrors of anxiety and depression to rule our minds and emotions.

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Fight back with the Word, lifestyle changes, therapy and medications if necessary. Don’t be afraid to take the necessary steps to stay well and live life to the fullest.

Did you ever watch the movie, JAWS? I’ve probably seen that movie 25 times.
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Remember the part when characters Brody, Hooper, and Quint are out in the boat at night waiting for the shark to come back the next day and he shows up early? They are passing the time talking about, and showing each other their battle scars.

Quint gets serious when Hooper asks him about his tattoo and Quint tells the awful story of waiting to be rescued after the USS Indianapolis went down in shark infested waters, and of the 1,199 crewmen who went into the water, only 316 came out. I've never read anything about the story of the USS Indianapolis, but I don't think any of those men could have survived that horrible ordeal without invisible wounds, hopefully they healed over with time and with God's grace. But the character, Quint, never allowed his deep wounds to heal. I think he lived to kill as many sharks as he could and this allowed his wounds to fester until the day he was killed by the shark. Survivor guilt to the extreme.

My point here is that we all have wounds and scars.Photobucket

Some of them are invisible. And they can be just as painful as the bleeding, festering wounds that the character Quint wore on his weary soul. On Thursday Wenda wrote, "There is seldom a quick fix for serious injury." And even though some of those injuries may have formed scars as Dina mentioned on Monday, I know there are way too many walking wounded who still haven't found a way to heal.

Ronie Kendig visited us and shared about her Discarded Heroes series and when I found this picture on photobucket it made me think of her series and how important it is to honor our fighting men and women, our elderly vets and our very young and the sacrifices they have made.

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Generations Of Valor
Pearl Harbor survivor Houston James of Dallas embraced Marine Staff Sgt. Mark Graunke Jr during a Veterans Day commemoration in Dallas yesterday. Graunke lost a hand, a leg and an eye when he defused a bomb in Iraq last year.

Battle wounds come in all shapes and sizes, visible and invisible.
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Jesus knows well the battle wounds we all carry inside and out. May this Sunday be a day that you begin the healing process or continue on in the healing process. The important thing is that you share your wounds with the God who became man, look at his scars and know he cares for you and wants you to heal.

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John 10:10 (NIV)"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Give your doubts, fears, and wounds to Jesus.

11 comments:

  1. Oh, Jilly, this is so true. I know someone, very close to me, who is letting the wound fester and cripple their life. I pray that person will read this today and let the healing process finally begin so they can live their life to the fullest and find the joy again.

    The soldier picture just made me ache in the deepest part of my stomach. What beautiful pictures you've shared with us this morning.

    Have a very blessed Sunday.

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  2. HI Suzie,
    I'm glad you stopped by. The post beginning is still missing but you got the message anyway. :) The picture of the veterans got to me too. I don't think we can fully comprehend their pain and sacrifice.
    Have an awesome Sunday,
    Jill

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  3. Great post, Jill. I feel led to share a thought this morning. Often, we try to hide parts of our hearts from God. To compartmentalize, and let him in some places, but hide others because they're too ugly or too painful. But God is completely familiar with those places, and by keeping him out, we're only hurting ourselves. We need to invite him in and say, "Here it is, God. I can't fix this. What are we going to do about it."

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  4. I adore those Band-Aids! Wouldn't it be nice if we could all slap one of those on when we have those internal wounds that have yet to heal and become scar, letting folks around us know we're dealing with something difficult?
    Great post, Jill!

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  5. Hi Dina,
    Thanks for sharing that thought. In our humanness it's easy to try and hide things from others, although not always wise. God already knows it all so we may as well just let him in and help deal with it. Easier said than done though sometimes. I think that's probably because we don't want to look at it too deeply ourselves. And when we say I can't fix it then we have to admit we don't have control over "it" (whatever it may be) and then we have to face our vulnerabilities.

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  6. Niki!
    You just reminded me of something. Remember the black arm bands people used to wear way back when after someone had died? That really made sense now that I think about it.
    Bandaids could be the new black arm bands. Maybe not. :) I love the thought though.

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  7. Beautiful post today, Jill. Blogger is giving me fits, though, and I am having problems commenting. So I'm just going to hurry my note up and say hi and thanks and hope this sticks!

    Loved the pics, btw. I'm concentrating on this last one, focusing on Jesus' face. Thomas' story was the subject of our sermon today, so this was especially timely for me. Thanks.

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  8. Hi Susie,
    I love that pic of Jesus and Thomas. It's really amazing to me. I think Niki used it this week too and I thought I picked it out on my own, but it must have been in my head already from her post. :)

    Have a great week!

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  9. Jill, I loved your post. sorry I'm late to comment.

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  10. Hey Jilly, I read this yesterday but forgot to comment.

    Loved the pics. And your words were a reinforcement of the Battle Wounds Week.

    Thank you.

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