Unknown Hurt

I have a scratch on my finger, and I have no idea how it got there.  I discovered it when the soap hit the open wound and the burn started.  I felt like a wimp because it was a serious ouchie.  I had been busy preparing supper, so I can only assume I cut my finger on a can or knife.  It was bleeding a little, and the cut is about a half inch long, so we are not talking just a tiny scratch.  How did I not feel this when it happened?  How did I not know I had injured myself?

As I was reading to the girls, the burning sensation was more intense.  I needed some sort of medicine for this little boo-boo.  The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to hurt.

Ever had an emotional hurt that happens the same way?

Someone says something.  You are pondering the conversation after it happened.  Wow, did they really say that to me.  Ouch, that comment burned.  Did they mean it like it sounded and the way I took it?  We overanalyze.   We continue to ponder.  The more we think about it, the more it hurts!

It was an unknown hurt.  The friend, family member or acquaintance in question does not realize they hurt us.  It was not intentional.  But they did cause us pain.  Not pain in the actual moment, but pain after we walked away and really thought about it.

How do we handle the pain?  Do we look for "medicine", or God's guidance to help us forgive?  Or do we stubbornly start fuming over the hurt and write that person off?  We can become bitter over unknown hurts.  Friendships can crumble over unknown hurts. We might not bandage up the wound, forgive and move on.  Instead we can't stop thinking about it.  It makes us angry.  It makes us resentful.

Maybe you have hurt someone unintentionally?  You may have said something that didn't come out quite right.  You hurt a friend, and you didn't know it.  Would you want that friend to write you off?

Just like my physical boo-boo needs a bandage, our emotional boo-boos need our care and attention.  They need to be addressed immediately so we aren't damaging friendships by not confronting the little things.  Even little boo-boos get infected.  One small comment, that is taken the wrong way, can ruin a great friendship.

Today's Verse
"A friend loveth at all times"  Proverbs 17:17a

We cannot let Satan use the unknown wounds to ruin our relationships.  If you are suffering from a wound, ask the Lord to guide you as you seek to bandage the wound and forgive.  If you sense you have been the offender and wounded a friend unintentionally, ask that friend for forgiveness.  Talk it out.  Unknown hurts can cause serious damage, but not if we are prepared to put a stop to the burn as soon as the boo-boo occurs.