what time does

It's pretty safe to say that we've all heard the phrase, "time heals all wounds." It's one of those comforting things that people say (mostly in movies) that we hold on to, whether we believe it or not. I've heard many professional Christian counselors, pastors, and others say that it's not true: God heals wounds, not time. And that is true. But that doesn't mean that time has nothing to do with it.

Belief #1:

Jesus says in John 8:32, "you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free" (NASB). This has to be one of my favorite verses. A lot of the pain that I've experienced, the emotional kind that lingers for more than a few days or weeks, has something to do with a lie that I've believe about myself, God, or other people. Sometimes it takes one bad experience to let a lie take hold, and sometimes it takes many small experiences that build up over time.

Belief #2:

If you know my taste in TV shows, you know that I love Alias. To quote myself from sophomore year in college: "Alias is so applicable to our spiritual lives." (Yes, you can laugh at me - I said that.) My favorite line from the whole series is this: "Truth takes time." You'd have to have watched the series to understand why that's such a powerful line, but it's something that I've held on to as a true statement. Sometimes, in order to overcome a lie that has built up for years, you have to encounter the truth over and over again before you believe it. I'm a fairly skeptical person, but I doubt that I'm much more skeptical than the average person. It's not always that I don't want to believe the truth - but sometimes it's a little easier to embrace a familiar lie that maintains the status quo (and hurts), than the truth that sets you free.

Example #1:

I've pretty much always hated shopping. Loved fashion, but hated the actual attempt to find a piece of clothing that looked fashionable on me. (I'm pretty sure I have my genetics to thank for part of that.) I'm 5'3" and I've never been what you would call "willowy." I've also never had a great body image, which I'm told is common to women in general. That said, I could get downright obsessive over what size of clothing I was wearing. If, for example, I found something that fit comfortably in a size 6, I felt good about myself. That is the "ideal" size to be, right? But if I had to go up to a size 10 or 12 before finding something fit... words like "fat", "flabby", "diet", and "pilates" would immediately come to mind. That's not freedom. That's believing that your size somehow determines your worth. And I spent many, many years in that place and fighting to get out.

Last weekend, I went to Goodwill for my seasonal "let's see if I can find anything amazing for under $20" trip. I found a couple nice things, but best of all I found a great pair of jeans, the kind that you can spend an entire afternoon searching for. But you want know the really strange thing? I didn't even look at the size on the tag until 3 or 4 days after buying them. That's a bit of freedom that I haven't had for a long time. It came slowly, as I learned to believe the truth about where my worth comes from. And that's what takes time: truth. It's not that God isn't capable of changing our hearts and lives in an instant - he absolutely is. But sometimes - speaking for myself - we're a little bit slow. Sometimes, for our sake, I think God shows us as much as he can... and then he waits for to be ready to take in more.

In Summary:

I've always been in a little bit of a hurry to get to the finish line, so to speak. I'm almost always ready to just be "done" with whatever I'm working on so that I can move on to the next thing. But I don't think that's how growth works. My goal for this season is stop focusing on the destination, and to start becoming more aware of the journey.