The Big Bruise

"Wow, what a big bruise" my wife told me Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church. I hadn't seen it, but I certainly felt the pain from the accident that brought it...

We were working at the church the day before, and I had climbed a ladder to get some items out of the attic. We have a storage area there, and my purpose was to get some Christmas decorations down. It was Saturday morning, and a gentleman in the church had leaned the ladder against the wall. I hurried up, only to find myself in a free fall as I got at the opening to the storage area. The ladder was falling, and I was clinging, with nothing to grab to, so down I came...breaking shelves below which were set up for our coffee shop.

I survived the accident and the fall, but I have a couple of big bruises and an aching back to show for it. One bruise is on my back side, just above my hip. It is black and purple in color, and about the size of a baseball. The other bruise is about an inch long, on my leg. I am grateful to the Lord, I know things could have been much worse.

If you've lived any length of years in life, you've gotten bruised. Bruises usually heal in a matter of days. But it is another type bruise that is on my mind, the inner bruises. Wounded spirits, fragmented relationships. Feelings of being wronged, left out, forgotten. These kind of bruises are more difficult. I find myself, as a pastor of a community of believers, tending bruised feelings from time to time. Sometimes it is between a husband and a wife, other times it is relationships in the church. And whether the feelings are justified, or just imagined, they are nonetheless real to the one who is hurt.

Both natural bruises, and the inner bruises of life, are going to occur. It is how we respond to them that determines our outcome. Some people are always running from their bruises. Running from relationships, jobs, churches, marriages. Yes, you will get hurt. But there are things you are assigned to that you must face, deal with, and work on. If it needs to get better, make sure that you make it so.

When dealing with people, we often deal with those who are bruised in life. A precious person is offended. There have been times when I have tried to get involved, to be a mediator. Upon investigating the matter, I may not feel it is justified or of as serious a nature as the reaction, but it is nonetheless real to the wounded. In those moments I sometimes feel my help has ran its course. And so I have to realize my limitations. How to repair it, I know not. There are some bruises I cannot heal... Only HE can.

I climbed back up the ladder. I got the items out of the storage area. Didn't know I was bruised at the time, but I knew I needed to be up there. That's what I want to encourage you to do. Get back up, go again, stay with it!