Don't Let Hurts Hurt You

Rejections, defeats, and failures that all of us have experienced can create enough negative feelings to destroy us. Be careful! Often the most painful wounds are not the scars that are outwardly seen, but the hidden wounds deep in the heart. Being hidden, they are often the most dangerous.
Setbacks in our lives can take the joy out of living. Our faith is weakened, and if we collect enough hurts it will stop us from wanting to press forward. Even success can make one the target of criticism. Do not let the hurts hurt you!
Look at Job. A man of the land of Uz, blameless, upright, one who feared God, and one who turned away from evil. Job had seven sons and three daughters, a beautiful family. He was considered "the greatest of all the men of the east." He lost it all in the twinkling of an eye. He lost his health, wealth, and family. He hurt. His wife hurt. His friends hurt. He was knocked down but not out. He had lost some of the passionate power to grow and some of his enthusiasm had diminished, but he checked his negative thinking and that of his wife and friends and stated, "I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my sad countenance and be cheerful." How could he after undergoing so much hurt?
Along the shoreline in California it is a common sight to see whales stopping alongside rocks as they migrate from Alaska to Mexico to scrape off barnacles. In our lifetime we also will pick up a collection of personal barnacles that will attach themselves like parasites sapping the life out of us. They must be scraped off.
How did Job do it? The same way we can do it-through faith. Faith is the only thing that can heal the hurts. Job scraped the barnacles off. It was painful! The scars would remain but his life was put back together. Strong belief in God was the medicine. His wife and his friends could not do it-only God could!
Job said, "I know that you [God] can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted" (Job_42:2). Paul told the Corinthians, "...God will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear...he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it" (1Co_10:13).
The Lord blessed the latter days of Job (Job_42:12) with great material blessings, and it was said of his new daughters that "in all the land no women were found so fair...." Job lived 140 years after the hurts and saw sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and great-great-grandsons. You can also forget your hurts, leave off your sad countenance, and be cheerful if you turn to God for your strength to do so.