Recently, my work took me throughout Europe, meeting with people from the vast expanse of peoples that make “the Continent” beautiful.
I heard stories of regret from Czech friends who are seeking to come to terms with what their people did to expel Germans from their country at the end of World War 2.
I heard memories shared of the trauma caused by the displacement of Finns who were forced to leave with nothing but what could be carried when the Soviet Union occupied the part of Finland they called home for generations.
I saw the impact of the war in Israel in modern-day Germany, where billboards warn of the dangers of antisemitism in a town square that just eighty years ago would have been draped in blood-red Nazi flags.
My Czech friends shared that even talking about the wrongs committed by Czechs toward Germans still elicits angry responses today. My Finnish friend continues to feel the impact of his great-grandparent’s displacement. That sign in Germany would awaken different thoughts, feelings, and wounds for a German than it would for a Palestinian refugee standing in the same old town square where restaurants serving both schnitzel and falafel compete with each other for patrons.
We have been wounded, from whole cultures to the man looking in the mirror—and inner healing is needed.
And it doesn’t happen by accident or come easy.
Have you noticed that? Is there a lingering inner wound that you just keep pushing down or dismissing as “not that big a deal?”
We have been wounded, from whole cultures to the man looking in the mirror—and inner healing is needed.
Does your gut begin to swirl, or does your blood pressure rise unexpectedly when you see that person, experience even the slightest offense, or think about past injustices?
Let’s admit it: a broken arm is easier to heal. A lacerated leg or even a kidney stone is nothing in comparison. If those types of injuries occur, we rush to triage and begin healing.
Why are we often so slow to pursue inner healing?
I know I can be. I think many men are the same. It can be frightening to go there. It can be costly. It requires addressing the callouses on our hearts that have built up, usually with justification, or facing the emotional constipation we sit with comfortably. It requires humility and courage to seek, pursue, and welcome a power capable of reaching those inner depths that no bandage or medication can transform.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest,” Jesus said (Matthew 11:28). Does inner rest sound inviting? Are you weary of futile paths, prescriptions, and pundits? Jesus invites you to come to Him and, in what seems like a great paradox, find the deepest rest through the full surrender of submission. The rest and healing we pursue result from yoking to Him and learning from Him. He alone can take you in the right, though often challenging, direction and begin the soul-care work needed to heal the inner us.
From Europe to wherever you are reading this, inner healing is needed for every man. After all, what is happening in the inner self shows up in our relationships, it shows up at work, in our homes and neighborhoods, and it shows up in the silence when we are left with just the man in the mirror.
Are you willing to pursue this healing?
Jesus promises that those who come to Him will find rest. And, they will receive a Great Counselor, the Holy Spirit, to guide them into truth and wholeness (John 16:13).
This is God’s great desire for His children.
This is God’s great desire for Czechs, Finns, Germans, Israelis, and Palestinians.
And God often places people in our lives—like wise friends, gracious pastors, and gifted counselors—who can help us in this pursuit.
Do you hear the invitation to the inner wholeness and healing of our Creator that leads to a cheerful heart rather than a crushed spirit that dries up the bones (Proverbs 17:22)?
Begin the pursuit—it is well worth the journey.
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