WHEN YOUR HEART GETS NUMB
March 2013
by Lisa Maki
All of us have a starting point of innocence or some sort of idealism. This is a world of purity and utmost beauty. It is a season when everything seemed perfect ... when there was no concept of fear ... when there was no doubt or suspicion. Then something happens that tears this beautiful world apart. It may have been some sexual abuse, divorce of parents, betrayal from a loved one, neglect of parents, etc.
Since the heart has its own way of protecting itself, it shuts off when it gets so hurt, to shield itself from further getting hurt. This is when the heart gets numb. It freezes the hurt feeling so that it won’t feel it. In the process, it also prevents itself from getting healed.
This was the case with me. My hurt feelings from my ex-husband made my heart so numb and cold. For a while I thought that my numbness was working for me. I felt strong because I was able to prevent my heart from getting hurt. Unfortunately, it worsened my situation. The compounded hurt feelings in my heart were silenced but not treated. And since it was superficially pacified, it became like lava inside of me just waiting to explode.
You may have been in the same situation or probably still trapped in this situation. You may have been so hurt in the past, not only once but many times, and your heart has become numb. Know that the numbness in your heart is a sign that you need healing. Look at it as your heart that stopped beating. You need to revive it.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that our heart is deceitful above all things. This means that we can’t trust our heart. My heart was the one who led me to the man who eventually betrayed me. It deceived me. And after I got so hurt it tried to protect itself by becoming numb. So what has that done to me? It didn’t really protect me at all. It subjected me to deeper hurts. It prevented me from being healed.
So how do you revive your heart?
Since the heart has its own way of protecting itself, it shuts off when it gets so hurt, to shield itself from further getting hurt. This is when the heart gets numb. It freezes the hurt feeling so that it won’t feel it. In the process, it also prevents itself from getting healed.
This was the case with me. My hurt feelings from my ex-husband made my heart so numb and cold. For a while I thought that my numbness was working for me. I felt strong because I was able to prevent my heart from getting hurt. Unfortunately, it worsened my situation. The compounded hurt feelings in my heart were silenced but not treated. And since it was superficially pacified, it became like lava inside of me just waiting to explode.
You may have been in the same situation or probably still trapped in this situation. You may have been so hurt in the past, not only once but many times, and your heart has become numb. Know that the numbness in your heart is a sign that you need healing. Look at it as your heart that stopped beating. You need to revive it.
Jeremiah 17:9 says that our heart is deceitful above all things. This means that we can’t trust our heart. My heart was the one who led me to the man who eventually betrayed me. It deceived me. And after I got so hurt it tried to protect itself by becoming numb. So what has that done to me? It didn’t really protect me at all. It subjected me to deeper hurts. It prevented me from being healed.
So how do you revive your heart?
Ezekiel 36:26 says: And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.
It’s not you who will be able to revive your heart. It’s God. He said He will give you a new heart and will put a new spirit in you. This means that your new heart will come as a result of His spirit in you. This is what happens when you get reborn ... when you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. He further said that He will take out your stony heart and give you a responsive heart.
Your heart turning numb resulted in a heart that also became stubborn and unresponsive to the love of God. This is why the healing of our heart takes time. It doesn’t happen immediately after we get reborn. It has to learn to respond first to God’s love. It has to learn to accept His love.
After God has won your trust, He will then begin to heal you. This healing process is not easy. It is like removing band-aids that have been there forever, stuck to your skin. This is why God will work on your trust issue first (with Him), so you will not run away from this healing process. I have to admit that I tried to run away several times only to return back to Him. Once your healing has begun, there is no other place to go to. If you try to run away from it, you will feel more pain, and then you will go back to your great Physician.
Your healing process will depend on how numb your heart has become. This includes all your trust and fear issues. It also involves different phases, depending on your level of capacity to handle the healing. Remember, when God heals He heals from the root. He will not leave anything undone.
One thing I can tell you, based from my experience, is that the more willing you are to be healed, the faster the healing will be. On the contrary, the more you resist, the longer it will take. As I mentioned in my book Unveil Me: Would you rather remove the band-aid slowly and feel the pain more, or remove it fast and feel the pain less?
Think about it.
Your heart turning numb resulted in a heart that also became stubborn and unresponsive to the love of God. This is why the healing of our heart takes time. It doesn’t happen immediately after we get reborn. It has to learn to respond first to God’s love. It has to learn to accept His love.
After God has won your trust, He will then begin to heal you. This healing process is not easy. It is like removing band-aids that have been there forever, stuck to your skin. This is why God will work on your trust issue first (with Him), so you will not run away from this healing process. I have to admit that I tried to run away several times only to return back to Him. Once your healing has begun, there is no other place to go to. If you try to run away from it, you will feel more pain, and then you will go back to your great Physician.
Your healing process will depend on how numb your heart has become. This includes all your trust and fear issues. It also involves different phases, depending on your level of capacity to handle the healing. Remember, when God heals He heals from the root. He will not leave anything undone.
One thing I can tell you, based from my experience, is that the more willing you are to be healed, the faster the healing will be. On the contrary, the more you resist, the longer it will take. As I mentioned in my book Unveil Me: Would you rather remove the band-aid slowly and feel the pain more, or remove it fast and feel the pain less?
Think about it.
Lisa Maki is the founder, publisher, and editor of God'z Gurlz. More about Lisa at ...
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