The process of healing

Healing is great, when you can get there. Some people miss it living in bitterness or fear (as examples) so much it becomes part of their identity. The following is a symbolic perspective on the pathway or process to healing. It can help to explain the pain sometimes experienced in the process of healing, while, I hope, encouraging you to keep going on that pathway.

I am going to use the image of a garden to briefly explore the process of healing. Generally, weeds, stones, broken glass, unkempt lawns, neglected flower beds and broken fences all represent different areas of hurt, brokenness of heart, neglect and emptiness (by that I mean places where God is kept out of completely).

Sometimes, to begin or continue with the process of healing, one needs to pause and take stock both of where you are at and think how to start or continue. You may very well want to create a beautiful flower bed, but if you plant seeds in bad soil, it isn't going to work and will end up creating more problems down the line. If you use the right tool (a spade) to turn soil but have not removed the rocks, you could damage the tool in the process (which could be your energy and emotional strength). So, take stock, see what needs to be done and take time to work through that. This can take a while and you may find that unexpected things come up, this is normal, but still part of the process.

The other thing taking stock means is you focus on where to start. You cannot deal with everything at once and you need to not allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the mess in the garden.

Take one thing, and one day, at a time.

Secondly, it is also knowing what you need and where you need help. It is rare that a person works significant healing into their lives with out help of some kind. Perhaps others have the tools you need to help with your garden. Maybe you need a new fence (put in appropriate relational and or moral boundaries) so need help figuring out what type of fence you need etc.

The other thing to remember is that it takes a number of things like patience and work to do a good job. With healing, it is important that things are done properly and not given quick fixes although there can be temporary jobs done as long as it is taken as a work in progress such as propping up a broken fence in the short term while other things can be arranged. But quick fixes do not actually bring healing, they only make you feel a little better for a little while.

Generally it is important to understand that the pathway and process to healing can very often be fraught with pain, challenge and what can feel like further brokenness. Remember, a big garden job would mean lots of digging up, turning over, pruning back, uprooting well established weeds and old tree stumps along with large rocks. It can be, in a sense, a violent process and certainly does not feel clean sailing. In addition, once you start digging you never know what you might find hidden beneath the surface that needs dealing with.

If you are going through what you thought was a process of healing, but it has been extra hard, this is often very normal, and, in fact necessary. You are being over turned, uprooted, dug up cleared out. But this process is the very thing that is needed for the even more exciting stage-the replant. Once the ground is ready, newness can now come.

Spiritually speaking, I like the image in scripture of Father God being a gardener found in John 15. In this he is pictured as gardener who prunes, again, which can seem like a violent process, but it is intended for good as it is this process which allows more fruit to be produced.

Your Father in heaven wants to help heal you. He is the gardener of your heart. It can be painful and things can get dug up which you may want to keep buried, but the end work of this is for good. It will help to bring better and greater life into your heart which will lead to greater fruit in your life, in your relationship with God which will in turn bless others. The pathway to healing is not easy, far from it, but it is good nonetheless.

Allow God in at all times, he has the tools: his word, his spirit, fellowship of his body and the prayers of the saints (prayers of other believers on your behalf) to help you. Grow in patience with the process and with yourself. Gardening projects often take longer than expected, but with God at your side he can lead you every step of the way. His word is a lamp for your feet and a light to your path (Psalm 119 verse 105) and his Holy Spirit is there to lead and guide you into all truth, which, as with the process of healing, is the very thing by which living by it, will set you free.