
(Mine love them so much I literally have to hide them.)
Do you know what I’ve come to realize?
We grown-ups love band-aids too.
No, not the brightly-colored kind that are plastered with our favorite cartoon characters—
Let me show you what I’m talking about by showing you my own box of band-aids…
This one here, it’s my “Sarcasm” Band-Aid. It’s multi-purpose. I use it to cover up the pain of rejection, embarrassment… even anger. If someone hurts me, I smack it right on, and pretend the wound doesn’t even exist.
And this next one here is my go-to: It’s the “Busy” Band-Aid. I find more things to do and more places to go to cover up painful and difficult issues in my life that I simply don’t want to deal with.
Oh, and I can’t ignore the “Perfection” Band-Aid. If I do everything just right, I can cover the searing pain of never feeling like I'm never “enough…”
Moving along, now.
This one here is my “Gossip" Band-Aid. If I’m feeling insecure and unsure, I just find someone else to talk about to cover for myself.
And this last one I’ll share is the “Shopping” Band-Aid. Shopping is good therapy— it temporarily covers the pain of stress, but ultimately adds more when the bill arrives.
What’s in your box of "band-Aids"? Sarcasm, busyness, perfectionism, gossip, shopping, drinking, running away, silent treatment or…..?
Do you know what the problem with "band-Aids" is?
Band-aids only cover up. They don’t heal.
Yes, they cover the wound and, like a child, we think we "feel better” for a while, at least until we realize the wound is still there, and the pain is still very real.
It’s time to stop covering up and get real help; It’s time to take our wounds to the Father.
God doesn’t use Band-aids. He goes much further than that. God sees through to the deeper issues of our heart to what is causing the pain we are trying so hard to cover. He’s able to clean out the debris that causes irritation and infection in our lives.
And best of all-- He already has a cure: 2,000 years ago He sent His son to live a perfect life, so that he could not only take not only our sins, but our wounds as well.
That’s right-- take them.
So don’t ask me why we still wear band-aids around like they’re totally acceptable.
There is One who took our pain and carried our burdens so that we wouldn’t have to live with gaping wounds. Do you want to live like that?
We need to remember that it’s not the pain that is the problem— instead it points TO the problem.
Let us to be mindful next time we reach for our box so that we may stop covering up, but reach for Him instead.
Let’s. Be. Brave.
Word of the Day:
"But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
Prayer:
Father, I have some hurts in my life… Help me to see the pain not as a problem to cover-up, but as an indicator of an area where I need the deep healing only you can offer. Help me to recognize the “band-aids” I use most, and help me to bravely set them aside and reach for you instead. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Author: Katie Gibson