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This sermon was developed for the US Army Community. It contains phraseology that may not be understood by the general civilian population.
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Over Coming Past Hurts
We all go though times of pain.
Some pain is intensely personal:
A. The death of a mother or father.
B. The death of a sibling or a child.
C. Sometimes the pain comes from a divorce or a breakup.
Some pain comes from issues in the past:
A. An abusive parent.
B. Being sexually molested.
C. Or substance abuse.
We all go through these types of pain in our lives. There is no way we can avoid it. We all have to deal with it. The problem is how do we deal with our personal inner pain. Most of us work our way though it and move on with our lives, but at some point in time each of us will try to hold on to our past hurts, but holding on to past hurts is not healthy.
So the question to ask is how do you overcome your past hurts.
FIRST:
Search or healing in anonymity or in large groups.
This is the beauty of groups like alcoholics anomnous. You say hi may name is Doug and then you go about your business in the group. People do not need to know your name or anything about you that you don’t want them to know.
SECOND:
Build a steadfast friendship.
Everyone needs someone to talk to. Everyone needs a friend who can be direct with you. Someone who can say it like it is. In this video clip from “The Medicine Man” Dr. Cambill a plant biologist is forced to confront his past by his new research assistant. SHOW VIDEO CLIP. [The scene in the clip is where Dr. Cambill’s assistant rebukes him for hiding from his past. Dr. Cambill says “which hideout are your referring to, the jungle or the bottle.”] Dr. Cambill’s assistant forced him to deal with his past issues. We all need someone who we can trust to force us to move on.
THIRD:
Reconsider Members of Your Family as Confidants.
Now I am sure that some of you are thinking yeah, right, sure. My family is the problem. You want me to talk to them. Let me ask you this… Is all of your family the problem, or just a few members. I think that when we look at our family as a whole, most of us would agree that our problems are with just a few individuals not the whole family. Is there any reason why we can’t talk to others in our family.
Then again is there a reason why we can’t talk to the person who caused the hurt in the past? Consider this next video clip from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” SHOW VIDEO CLIP [The scene in the clip is where Indiana Jones is talking to his father as they are leaving Nazi Germany riding in the Zeppelin. In particular Indiana says to his father “You were more interested in people ho died 500 years ago than our own family.”] As you can see often times the issues that surround our past hurts are no longer issues when we take the time to speak to the person with whom we had the issue.
Even if you cannot speak to the person you can always write a letter to them. You don’t have to mail it, just get the issues off your chest.
FINALLY:
Cast Your Burden Upon The Lord.
Now I am not putting this point last in the message because it is the least, but because it the most important. The other three ways of overcoming past hurts are important, but they are not fully effective unless you cast your burden upon God. The scripture says in Psalm 55:22 “Give your burdens to the Lord. He will carry them. He will not permit the godly to slip or fall.”
Remember our personal pain, out past hurts, are diminished when they are recognized and shared. And remember to get the most out of the sharing of past hurts one must include God as only God can help you to completely overcome your past hurts
