We all carry wounds that time alone can’t heal. In this honest and hope-filled article, Pastor Chris shares how Jesus meets us in the pain we try to hide—binding up the brokenhearted, healing old wounds, and restoring peace where loss once lived. Discover how to bring your story to God, lean into community, and take one small step toward real emotional and spiritual healing through Christ.
Your story is moving. You write with such honesty about the ache of not knowing your father — and I can feel how deeply that loss shaped you. But what also stands out to me is how faithfully you were raised in the Church, how clearly someone cared for you and planted that faith in you.
You had a Father — even if not the one you searched for. God was there. And through the people who guided, taught, and loved you, He made sure you were never truly alone.
Sometimes the hardest part of healing is realizing that while we mourn what we didn’t have, we can also give thanks for what we did have — the quiet ways God fathered us through others.
Your story reminds me that grace doesn’t always replace what’s missing; sometimes it redeems it.
Sorry hit a button I guess. First I really want to say this… I’m
Very proud of you. There’s so much heart in your work, transparent and true. Your relationship to God is beautiful to see.
There’s hurt from the past but I have to agree, we have to choose to look at what God has given us today.
That’s not to sound cold. My older sister has been a haunt of mine for decades. She has a hospitable nature that warms people or makes them laugh. And tears apart any she desires to eradicate.
There’s history .. but there’s mercy, i can only walk as closely to God as possible. It’s good to witness in this life. To offer hope, to challenge unrest. But this life is only temporary. That’s my greatest treasure. Heaven awaits.
Thank you. I struggle with old hurts coloring how I see and interact with a friend. I am trying to have wise boundaries and reach out as well. It's hard to navigate what came from unawareness (unintentionally hurtful) and what came from self-focus (their needs being the primary consideration).
Thanks for being so open and sharing your pain, Chris. This is the path to healing! We need to share our pain instead of hiding it. It is in sharing our burdens, our pain, that we can bear one another's burdens! We are comforted so that we might comfort others with the same comfort we have received!
Chris this is stellar oh my gosh- I'm so glad this found me today and you did an amazing job. I'm sorry to hear about your father but thank you for sharing because you make a great point: we learn to live with the pain and its aches but God can and WILL heal it by restoring us, even if we don't believe or fully see it for ourselves. A relatable read and reminder for sure
Thanks for this post.. it's important. The Lord brought back a painful memory to me atChristmas 2024. When the person came to my mind, I thought.. Oh, that's funny.. I will pray for them. This had happened once or twice over the years and it passed. But, this time.. it did not go. Jesus was asking me to deal with it. I didn't want to, but left it in His hands. Over the Christmas, I was led to reflect on it and the painful wound came up. I had buried it for years. Gently, I was led to heal it. It took a long time, but I worked through it. I'm glad I finally released it.
Thank you for writing this post today; I’ve been working through some hurts of my own and needed the reminder to pray over those. It’s to incredibly hard to remember that we need to rely on God in our pain. I tend to forget it as I don’t want to be a burden, though it most certainly isn’t true. Thank you again.
Thank you for your vulnerability in sharing your story. Allowing ourselves to grieve, process and inviting God's healing are so critical! Like you said if we don't, it colors how we see God and those wounds fester and create more brokenness. This message of healing to the broken heart is at the heart of the Gospel, yet so often we skip over it. Or think..it's just for those really messed up people. We've all got wounds, but not everyone recognizes it. Processing/healing our wounded areas with God leads to greater humility, love, power, maturity and ultimately greater impact on this Earth. I have no doubt you're having an immense impact on those in your circles!
"That’s the thing about unhealed wounds. They don’t just stay in the past. They shape how we pray, how we love, and how we trust." This reminds me of the bandage approach. If we cover up our problems/wounds without cleaning and excising, things look fine on the surface, but underneath, the wound festers. Unhealed pain doesn’t stay buried; it seeps into our relationships, our faith, and our decisions. We start praying from a place of fear instead of trust, loving with guarded hearts, and expecting disappointment instead of hope.
True healing requires more than covering, it demands cleansing. It means facing the pain, naming it, and allowing God to do the deep work of restoration. Just like a wound needs to be cleaned and sometimes even excised to prevent infection, our emotional and spiritual wounds need truth, grace, and time to heal.
Our loving Father doesn’t just want to patch us up. He wants to make us whole. And that wholeness begins when we stop hiding the hurt and start inviting Him into it.
55 years of hatred… 5 years…the first five… of joy. It’s not going to end here. Maybe on the other side… battles of Satan, hated by Christian’s… it’s not going away ever. Thanks for at least letting me know I’m not the only one.
Your story is moving. You write with such honesty about the ache of not knowing your father — and I can feel how deeply that loss shaped you. But what also stands out to me is how faithfully you were raised in the Church, how clearly someone cared for you and planted that faith in you.
You had a Father — even if not the one you searched for. God was there. And through the people who guided, taught, and loved you, He made sure you were never truly alone.
Sometimes the hardest part of healing is realizing that while we mourn what we didn’t have, we can also give thanks for what we did have — the quiet ways God fathered us through others.
Your story reminds me that grace doesn’t always replace what’s missing; sometimes it redeems it.
Sorry hit a button I guess. First I really want to say this… I’m
Very proud of you. There’s so much heart in your work, transparent and true. Your relationship to God is beautiful to see.
There’s hurt from the past but I have to agree, we have to choose to look at what God has given us today.
That’s not to sound cold. My older sister has been a haunt of mine for decades. She has a hospitable nature that warms people or makes them laugh. And tears apart any she desires to eradicate.
There’s history .. but there’s mercy, i can only walk as closely to God as possible. It’s good to witness in this life. To offer hope, to challenge unrest. But this life is only temporary. That’s my greatest treasure. Heaven awaits.
Thank you. I struggle with old hurts coloring how I see and interact with a friend. I am trying to have wise boundaries and reach out as well. It's hard to navigate what came from unawareness (unintentionally hurtful) and what came from self-focus (their needs being the primary consideration).
Thanks for being so open and sharing your pain, Chris. This is the path to healing! We need to share our pain instead of hiding it. It is in sharing our burdens, our pain, that we can bear one another's burdens! We are comforted so that we might comfort others with the same comfort we have received!
Chris this is stellar oh my gosh- I'm so glad this found me today and you did an amazing job. I'm sorry to hear about your father but thank you for sharing because you make a great point: we learn to live with the pain and its aches but God can and WILL heal it by restoring us, even if we don't believe or fully see it for ourselves. A relatable read and reminder for sure
Thanks for this post.. it's important. The Lord brought back a painful memory to me atChristmas 2024. When the person came to my mind, I thought.. Oh, that's funny.. I will pray for them. This had happened once or twice over the years and it passed. But, this time.. it did not go. Jesus was asking me to deal with it. I didn't want to, but left it in His hands. Over the Christmas, I was led to reflect on it and the painful wound came up. I had buried it for years. Gently, I was led to heal it. It took a long time, but I worked through it. I'm glad I finally released it.
Thank you for writing this post today; I’ve been working through some hurts of my own and needed the reminder to pray over those. It’s to incredibly hard to remember that we need to rely on God in our pain. I tend to forget it as I don’t want to be a burden, though it most certainly isn’t true. Thank you again.
Thank you for your vulnerability in sharing your story. Allowing ourselves to grieve, process and inviting God's healing are so critical! Like you said if we don't, it colors how we see God and those wounds fester and create more brokenness. This message of healing to the broken heart is at the heart of the Gospel, yet so often we skip over it. Or think..it's just for those really messed up people. We've all got wounds, but not everyone recognizes it. Processing/healing our wounded areas with God leads to greater humility, love, power, maturity and ultimately greater impact on this Earth. I have no doubt you're having an immense impact on those in your circles!
Thank you, Lyn. I appreciate that. Healing can be a journey, but it is worth the effort.
Wonderful Chris, thanks for sharing brother. God works through those pain points to shape us for His purposes.
Thank you for sharing your story, Chris.
Great article. Thanks so much 🙏🙏🙏😎😎😎
I
have old sorrows.
"That’s the thing about unhealed wounds. They don’t just stay in the past. They shape how we pray, how we love, and how we trust." This reminds me of the bandage approach. If we cover up our problems/wounds without cleaning and excising, things look fine on the surface, but underneath, the wound festers. Unhealed pain doesn’t stay buried; it seeps into our relationships, our faith, and our decisions. We start praying from a place of fear instead of trust, loving with guarded hearts, and expecting disappointment instead of hope.
True healing requires more than covering, it demands cleansing. It means facing the pain, naming it, and allowing God to do the deep work of restoration. Just like a wound needs to be cleaned and sometimes even excised to prevent infection, our emotional and spiritual wounds need truth, grace, and time to heal.
Our loving Father doesn’t just want to patch us up. He wants to make us whole. And that wholeness begins when we stop hiding the hurt and start inviting Him into it.
Thank you for writing this much needed truth.
55 years of hatred… 5 years…the first five… of joy. It’s not going to end here. Maybe on the other side… battles of Satan, hated by Christian’s… it’s not going away ever. Thanks for at least letting me know I’m not the only one.