Emotional Pain – At Some Point it Takes Over

Nehemiah 9:19 - Because of your great compassion you did not abandon them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud did not fail to guide them on their path, nor the pillar of fire by night to shine on the way they were to take.

It starts to leak out around the edges. Dark colors swirl and cover it. And loud, hard music begins to play and you know it won’t take long for others to see just how messed up you are inside.
 
That’s what emotional pain does. It leaks out. It swirls and covers up normalcy. It pounds loudly at the door waiting for you to open it. Sometimes you can ignore the door. But most of the time, you’re just too tired to not let it in.
                                         
Emotional pain can stem from a variety of reasons – Disappointing someone, someone disappointing you, being ignored, being talked about behind your back, failing yet again and so the pain takes over.
 
There’s a person inside you waiting to come out. It seals the wounds you bear. It brings bright colors and covers up the ugly inside. It knocks softly at the door, so you’re not afraid to open it. When you open the door a breath of fresh air fills your mind and your entire being.
 
You have some choices – Let the shame of emotional pain take over, or have compassion on yourself and let comfort take over. Comfort then creates a pathway of faith and understanding.
 
And it dares to allow you to be who you are pain and all. Emotional pain doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I know, it feels like a bad thing, but doesn’t always do so. You have the opportunity to be you and let the world see that there’s some ugly inside, because everyone has emotional pain some time in their lives. And that time may be right now.
 
Look deeply into the heart of the broken. Offer compassion and hold their hands. Tell them the story of why you are broken, and just maybe, they will let you know their story.
 
So you see, what looks like a weakness to you is really a strength. But it becomes a weakness if we let emotional pain take over. How do we keep emotional pain from taking over and instead recover from it? Articles.mercola.com post the article, “5 Tips for Recovering from Emotional Pain,” with suggestions such as how to avoid ruminating and going over and over a past hurt; and, make sure guilt remains a useful emotion.
 
Take a look at the Bible verse above. The Israelites had disobeyed God and now they were wandering in the desert. But even in their trials, God showed them compassion. He provided a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. It may have felt to the Israelites that they were lost and alone, just as we can feel alone when we are in the middle of emotional pain. But if we can keep our mind on God, he can wash away our pain and enable us to help someone else.

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