Removing our emotional casts
Have you ever broken a bone?
I am fortunate to say thus far it has not happened to me, so I've never had to wear a cast. However, a few weeks ago our 14-year-old son fractured his wrist playing Ultimate in PE and had to wear a cast... until today. This morning we went to the cast clinic at the hospital, and within a few minutes of being seen by the doctor, the cast was gone.
Wearing a cast is a pain. There is so much we can't do when casted. Even after the cast is removed, returning full mobility to the joint takes time. Of all the things he's missed, our son said he's most looking forward to is taking a shower (he's only had baths the last few weeks).
To aid recovery, the doctor suggest gentle activities that move the wrist, like vacuuming, washing the dishes, and cleaning the windows, but I don't think his patient bought into that recovery plan.
However, the cast served its purpose. It immobilized the wrist and gave it the protection he needed to properly heal from the break. Now that the wrist has healed, he no longer needs that extra protection.
Even though we are talking about the physical body here, this truth also applies to emotional and mental wellness.
Sometimes an event (or series of events) fractures something within us. It could be a traumatic experience as a child, or a harsh word to us as an adult. The actual event varies, but the breaking within us is real.
You're allowed to feel broken.
When this happens (especially when we're children), we protect ourselves. Our mind or emotions build a cast around that event to protect us from painful memories, or sometimes we unconsciously harden our heart so it will not hurt again.
But as we get older, if we want to experience the fullness of life, the cast needs to be removed. Perhaps we are no longer in that traumatic circumstance, or perhaps we have matured to the point where we can handle the healing. In either case, God, who deeply cares for our mental and emotional wellbeing, wants to give us wholeness.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
~Psalm 147:3
Personally, I find healing is best done with the help of personal prayer and a good counsellor, but your journey to wholeness could be a different one.
When we first put on the emotional cast, we needed it. You should never feel bad for having one. However, chances are, you no longer need it (unless your circumstances have not changed in which case you have a more important issue with which to deal).
When the cast is removed, we feel raw and vulnerable, but that is how God brings healing into our lives. Also, it may take a while for us to return to "full mobility" in our emotional wellness, but that's OK too. We will find that many of the things we couldn't enjoy while the cast was on we now can, and it could bring a new level of joy and freedom to our soul.
PAUSE and REFLECT: are you wearing any "emotional casts" right now? I encourage you to actually pause, actually ask the Holy Spirit, and actually listen to his response.
Does that cast still need to be there? Perhaps God is inviting you, with his help, to remove that self-protection and open yourself to his healing touch. Yes it will feel raw. Yes it will feel far too vulnerable. But if we can trust in his love and guidance (and perhaps get professional help), we can return to, or find for the first time, the wholeness for which we have always yearned and to which God has always destined us.