A thought by Charles R. Swindall, from his book, Start Where You Are. Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
We want God to take of this virus right now!!!
Charles says, “We like quick turnarounds, instant changes from sickness to health. We much prefer accounts of miracles to long, nonsensational stories of slow recoveries. In fact, we tend to grow impatient with those who can’t seem to take our advice and ‘snap out of it’ or ‘get well soon,’ like the greeting card urges (pushes?) them to do.
“But like it or not, more often than not, the wise words of Hippocrates are true: ‘Healing is a matter of time.’”
Charles goes on, “The one who needs time to heal—perhaps months or even years—often becomes the recipient of resentment. Instead of being affirmed and encouraged to press on through the pain, allowing sufficient time to get better, the sufferer encounters resentment and impatience. Uninvited advice, dripping with misunderstanding and disrespect, begins to flow.
“This is especially true of those who must climb out of a background of emotional trauma. It took years for the damage to be done, yet many expect overnight recovery. For some, there is the added stigma of attempted suicide or time spent in a psychiatric ward or mental hospital. Others must live with a past strewn with bitter experience. Prison. Divorce. Rape. Child abuse. Ego-shattering blows to their self-esteem.
“No one on the face of the earth would more love to be healed and return to the mainstream of life than these strugglers. But for them, the therapy remains a prolonged and painful process, not an instant miracle.”
He then says, “My plea is that we love and respect these sufferers rather than resent them. I realize some may go to the extreme, play on our sympathy, and take advantage of our compassion. But more often than not, those who are recovering want nothing more than to be well, whole, responsible, functioning adults who carry their share of the load.
“Just as it is possible to hurry the very young through childhood, refusing to give them the benefit of growing up slowly and securely, so it is possible to hurry the deeply wounded through recovery, robbing them of the benefits of healing slowly and permanently.”
Oh God, may we be sensitive to others and not to condemn but to lift them up and strive to understand and share their load. Would you be open to that? Would you?
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