Cutting
The reality of this is becoming epidemic in our culture. To be sure, a large part of our population carries huge burdens of emotional pain that they are unable to deal with. This is not a new problem, but it is increasingly alienating people from society and causing permanent damage to their bodies and lives. I have good news to interject at this point though: there is a better way to deal with emotional pain than the escape that you have been seeking from your problems. The way to deal with emotional pain is given in the Bible in Psalm 55. In verses 4 and 5, it says, “My heart is sore pained within me: and the terrors of death are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me.” David himself experienced emotional pain. In another passage he says, “Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins (Psalm 25:16-18). Can you identify with David? Are the troubles of your heart enlarged? Do you wish that someone could see your pain and help you, but you’re afraid to make yourself vulnerable to them?
Emotional pain is a terrible prison that traps us in shame and guilt. You may feel that it is your fault, that others would not understand if they found out and that they would judge you. These feelings cause many to dive further into the darkness and leads to other attempts to escape the pain that may include substance abuse or suicide. Going further into the darkness will not help you deal with the emotional pain, but there is hope.
David experienced the same desire to escape his pain. He says in verses 6-8, “And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest. Lo, then would I wander far off, and remain in the wilderness. Selah. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” Does that seem like a familiar feeling? The desire to just escape, to run away and escape the craziness of the storm that is raging in your heart and mind is not strange, everyone experiences this at times. It is important that you understand that you are not odd or weird; you are very normal and identifying with others will help you find acceptance and help.
The Bible explains what the source of this emotional pain is. David says in verses 12-14, “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” It wasn’t a stranger or an enemy that caused David’s pain, no, it was someone close to him, an authority in his life, someone he loved and trusted.
