Rules for Recovery From an Injured Spirit

This is a special podcast, today, as I am sharing something for the very first time.

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Show Highlights

I have been working on a book for the last few months. I still need a title, but the rest is complete. If you think about it, pray for me as I seek to land on one.

The core concept of the book is understanding that the role of parenting is a marathon and not a sprint. We live in a culture that tries to sprint through everything. And we live in a culture that worships the sprint. A lot of times it seems like we try to sprint through aspects of parenting as if the joy is on the other side of the parenting. Parenting is not just an 18-year race. You’re not going to finish parenting when your kids turn 18. Hopefully, your parenting changes when they become adults. I have begun to look at my parenting as a multi-generational endeavor, where my goal is to equip and point multiple generations from my family to Jesus to have maximum impact on the kingdom.

The sections of the book are “The Mindset of the Marathon”, “Disciplines for Distance”, “Rules for Recovery”, and “Causes for Celebration.” Today I want to share chapter 9, from the section, “Rules for Recovery.” This chapter deals with injury. I want you to think about whether you’ve ever exercised or done something physical, and how injury has affected you. I want you to realize that the same thing has happened to you in your family situation. With that in mind, let’s think about injury and the rules of recovery.

The Rule: We need to be intentional in repairing what gets broken.

How to do this:

Acknowledge the injury. If you refuse to acknowledge that you’re hurt, you will continue to live angry. You’ll blame circumstances or other people. You will fail to seek the healing that the Holy Spirit can provide.
Lower your expectations. When you are injured, you must back off of your normal pace. Injuries don’t just affect the one part that hurts; the rest of your body, including your mind, spends resources compensating. Whatever your injury, remember that you are built for eternity. It won’t always be like this and Jesus will reward your faithfulness through the trial.
Warm up and cool down. Learn a lesson from your grown-up body: your grown-up soul needs to warm up and cool down as well. Before you engage in difficult conversations or tasks, spend time preparing your mind and spirit. No matter how the interaction goes, learn to debrief with the Lord on the other side.
Give it time. Relationships, emotions, and feelings need time to heal. Time alone does not heal all wounds, but with time, God brings circumstances, perspectives, events, and fresh insights into His word that can repair situations that you thought permanently broken.
Be intentional about your recovery. Take time. Address the issues. Get counselling or therapy. Dive into God’s word, prayer, and uplifting relationships. Get advice from wise people and listen.
Expect to heal. If you belong to Christ, you will heal. God will work every broken and twisted thing in this world for His glory and your good. You’re not stuck. The Great Physician of your soul is on the case.