The walking wounded

          If you are suffering in any way at this time, God can help you. He can bring you comfort, and also some sense of meaning to your life. He can even bring some sort of purpose out of your suffering, even though this is often impossible to see during the low time. There are many people suffering in this world, and there is a lot of pain. People suffer mentally, emotionally and physically. Whether you are a Christian or not at this point, I hope and pray that you will find this site helpful in finding meaning and hope in your life. Also, if you are not having problems at this time, I hope that you may be able to help and encourage others through the ideas, articles and resources in the site.

         Why is the site called “Walking-Wounded”? Well, life is a kind of a fight - a struggle. We can get hurt at the start, part-way through, or near the end. Or, more likely, we get hurt most of the way through. There are struggles, temptations, failures, disappointments and betrayals. Do we give up? I certainly don’t. As a Christian I always have hope in Jesus, because I know I am saved, and that God is there to listen to and answer my prayers. I might get wounded, sometimes it has seemed almost mortally so, but I have been able to carry on. Jesus is a wonderful counsellor and healer.

          As the writer in Isaiah 53:4 describes, Jesus can restore us from the wounds of a sinful and pain-filled world, through the work of his suffering on the cross. We should be very grateful to God for this. Even if our sufferings at times continue, Jesus is there with us. He does intervene and he never leaves. And he does act in power to bring healing to people’s hearts and bodies. I have seen this in others, and known it in my own life.

          When you are down and you pray, it is an amazing feeling when God answers you. Perhaps you can sense him communicate to you in some way - he “speaks”, and you know he is with you and that he is sharing in your sufferings. You know things will be OK in the end, and you thank him so much for the small mercies - the things you can hold onto and enjoy. A real sense of hope and even joy can come, because you know that God is with you - and that you are saved. So, Walking-Wounded. Hurt, but not mortally so, despite the pain. Down, but not out.

Facing the Darkness with Courage

          In the famous film “Star Wars”, the character Darth Vador states at one point, “I must face him - alone.” The reality concerning the darkness and the pain that some of us carry within us is that we must face up to these issues and pains personally - in a sense alone. Yes, we look for help and support - whether from medical professionals or from Christian friends or counsellors. However, only ourselves and God know exactly how we feel, and only God fully knows the causes and reasons for our problems and bad feelings. Vador eventually faced up to the darkness within him, and through deliberate choice turned from that darkness to the light.

         The comparison with Vador is not exact. Much of the hurt and problems that we experience are not self-conflicted (although some certainly can be). Also, it is quite rare to be able to instantly throw off many of the problems that we as humans suffer from. However, we can choose to face up to problems and search for help and solutions. This way, we can become liberated as people. We can also help others and share Christ with them.

          To gain freedom, the Christian believes and understands that humans depend on God. God is the founder and the foundation of all truth. Through knowing Christ we can understand ourselves and our problems properly. We can begin to see the truth about our pain or our destructive obsessions. Along with the practical steps we take to find help from others, it is through God’s work and presence in our lives that we can know true healing from our hurts. He is the only true source to gaining emotional freedom.