If you’ve got a farming background, chances are your first mental image of this word is a pig rolling around in the mud. But Merriam-Webster’s dictionary has another definition, one that unfortunately can apply to Christians. “To become or remain helpless.”
When faced with trials that seem overwhelming and insurmountable, or when the pain of a spouse’s or friend’s betrayal is devastating, or when just begin losing hope that God really is here and listening, we can become or remain helpless. We can wallow in our pain. Wallow in our shame. Wallow in our hopelessness.
But you know what? Christ didn’t die for us to wallow. He died so we could be free. I understand traumas happen, life isn’t always sunshine and roses. It has been and will always be filled with trials and harsh realities. But we were called to be warriors, not wallowers.
So how do we stop or hopefully avoid wallowing in the circumstance and pain?
Recognize the trauma happened, admit the devastation hurts, but don’t stay there. Don’t live in the pain. Even if you made that bed for yourself through your own bad choices, you don’t have to lie in it forever. Take Jesus’ hand and let him walk you through it to the other side. Find a support group, read books, work with a therapist or pastoral counselor, even try medication if your doctor recommends it. But work through your woundings. Don’t live your life in pain and never heal, never seeing and enjoying the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. Don’t be what I call a walking wound, sucking joy from your relationships, martyring yourself for no reason other than to continue your pain.
Do the work. Face the pain. Confront the trauma. And heal. Life on the other side of it is beautiful and so worth the effort.
I’m Felicia Ferguson; thanks for listening to Christian Mix 106.