In Your Wounds There is Wisdom
By: Missionary Team
Do you ever feel like you are so wounded that you will never overcome the hurt? That more wounds will just keep getting piled on top of one another until you feel like you are suffocating in a blanket of wounds? I know that in my past, I definitely did. I felt like as soon as I worked through one wound, another would hit me, and I immediately would get discouraged and would say to myself “am I ever going to be healed?”.
I was able to go on the most recent bus tour to the New York City area and to be a part of the events that Justin Fatica and our team hosted. He said something in one of his talks to a youth group in Long Island, New York City. While I was there, I wondered if the kids there may have been feeling the same discouragement that I’ve felt regarding the wounds I have received. As I pondered this, there was a phrase that Justin said that really stuck out me, “In your wounds there is wisdom”. This touched my heart and gave me a new perspective.
“In my deepest wound I saw your glory and it dazzled me.” - St. Augustine of Hippo
Sometimes I prayed to the Holy Spirit for the gift of wisdom. What I realize now, is that wisdom is given by God through my wounds! Of course, God doesn’t want me to be wounded; but when human nature and sinfulness wounds me, He turns it into something so beautiful. The saints knew this. We don’t always think of the saints as wounded people, but they were! They just found wisdom in their wounds.
“Without the burden of afflictions, it is impossible to reach the height of grace. The gift of grace increases as the struggle increases.” - St. Rose of Lima
When I am wounded, and learn how to work through those wounds, the wisdom that is found there is irreplaceable. For instance, when I was young, I went through sexual abuse from a family member. Looking back at that wound, and the wisdom I have received through it, makes me believe this even more. It hurt to admit what happened to me was wrong, and that I didn’t deserve that abuse. But once I faced that hurt, admitted it, and forgave, the wisdom and freedom were unbelievable. Mother Teresa talks about this when she says:
“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.” -St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
This is hard to live out. This is a hard truth. But truly, loving until it hurts and letting God’s love swallow up our hurts and turn it into love is the mystery and beauty of the Christian faith. So next time that I am feeling wounded or discouraged by my woundedness, I commit to remembering that the beautiful wisdom is nestled in the crevices of my wounded heart. Jesus’s wounds on the cross were turned into the salvation of the world. I want to be radical like Jesus, and let my wounds do the same.
A prayer that we pray every day at Hard as Nails is this, “Lord Jesus, I give you my life, through pain, through suffering, and through joy!” That’s a radical prayer. But it’s a prayer I want to always live by. To remember that the goal is joy. There will always be joy in the pain and suffering, because God is God of the resurrection. He will turn all wounds into joyful wisdom.
