The other day, I got a paper cut for the first time after a long time.
At first, I did not notice it until my student and I noticed some blood on my hand. (Gross, i know)
I was so confused because I wasn’t physically hurting at that point in time so I didn’t know where the blood was coming from.
When I went to wash my hand, I noticed the tiny slither of a cut on my thumb and that’s when it started to hurt.
And then it dawned on me…..
Sometimes, life gives us paper cuts.
It may come in the form of a hurtful comment that we brush off but deep down it festers unbeknownst to us. Or it may come in the form of a negative experience that you did not deal with properly. And sometimes you do not notice it until the blood of that cut starts manifesting itself in other areas of your life.
I learnt a few things from that paper cut:
1. It seems small from the outside but it actually cuts deep.
2. It’s not always immediately obvious – until you see the blood
3. It’s unexpected.
Here’s my two cents about paper cuts:
It’s best to deal with it right then and there. Because if you don’t, it could cause more damage in other areas of your life.
The longer you take to treat it, the greater the damage that it will cause not only to yourself, but also to those around you.
SO today, I’d like to urge anybody to take some time out and rewind back.
Ask yourself these questions,
“What paper cuts have I ignored?”
“Am I ignoring evidence of hurt even though certain negative patterns are being revealed in other areas of my life?”
Now, I am no psychologist – clearly. But what I can recommend is the best healer that I know, and that is Jesus.
1 Peter 5:7-9 (NIV)
“7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
– Jesus CARES for you and He wants you to release every form of hurt to Him. He’s not asking for anything in exchange for His compassion, except your hurt. Is that not the ultimate form of love?
And just before you think that Jesus can’t relate to you, Isaiah 53:3 says that He was, “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” – in other words, He knows exactly how you feel. Even those paper cuts that you are trying so desperately to ignore, He wants you to give it to Him so that the two of you can deal with it TOGETHER.
You are not alone.
You never were and you never will be.
