Picker

I’m a picker. If there’s any scab or bump on my body, I will pick and pick and pick at it until the annoying blemish is gone from my view. It’s a strange habit to have developed over time, and it often happens without me thinking about it. Right now, for example, I have a scab on my right arm that’s been there for almost a month. It could’ve healed quite some time ago but, because of my weird, obsessive habit, it remains unhealed. I have lots of little scars on my body because of my picking habit.

It’s so interesting how our bodies react to different types of agitation. Sometimes something needs to be picked at so that whatever was causing the problem can be removed and the body can heal properly. But there are times, like my scab picking, when we can do more damage than good.

I think this is an apt comparison between our physical health and the other parts of us we can’t see.

We all have hurts, habits, and hang-ups; some are very obvious and others are hidden a little better. Some of them are socially or culturally acceptable but, regardless of what it looks like, we all have those things in our lives that we need to work through. These things need to be examined, unearthed if you will, and exposed to the perfect light of God’s love. Without that thing being exposed, it won’t be able to heal. If you need a safe place that you can go and find healing, I highly recommend finding a Celebrate Recovery meeting near you.

But then there are times when we pick at the things and resurrect hurts that have been forgiven and should remain firmly placed in the past where they belong. I once heard someone say that the reason why Jesus said we have to forgive others 70 x 7 times is because we tend to remember the things that people have done to us, reliving them over and over again. As we do this, the memory is further ingrained into our minds and it feels as though we’ve experienced the hurt, trauma, or pain all over again. When we pick at our past we make it even more difficult for those places to heal.

If you’re a picker like me and, whether consciously or unconsciously, continue unearthing those things in your life that should be left to heal, I encourage you to give that habit over to God. Ask him to heal those parts of you because I’ve found that letting God heal, truly and completely heal, is far better than the momentary gratification of picking at that thing.

Are you a picker like me? Are there any things in your life that you need to let rest? My hope and prayer is that we would all have the courage to confront those things in us that need to be healed and to let those things reside in the past that have been forgiven.