Avoid the Temptation to Lick Your Wounds

My beloved, are circumstances in your life not what they ought to be? Are you struggling in some way today? If so, I want to caution you from my personal experience, as well as (most importantly) the Word of God: avoid the temptation to lick your wounds!

First, no matter what you are going through, you are not alone.

And although many people other than yourself around the world are probably going through similar things, that is not the important thing here. The important thing here is that JESUS also experienced what you are experiencing. As it says in Hebrews:

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16 NKJV).

Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

So, for example:

• Jesus was tempted to feel sorry for Himself, but that would have required Him to take His eyes off the Father; so He did not yield to that temptation.
• Jesus was tempted to proverbially “lick His wounds” when people were mean to Him, or unfaithful, or unreliable; but also that would have required Him to take His attention off the Father, so He did not do it. He did not lick His wounds.
• Jesus was tempted to get angry when things did not go His way, but He didn’t–because the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness God requires.
• Jesus was tempted to quit when the going got hard, but He did not–because to quit would have been to disobey the Father and terminate the Father’s assignment for Him on the earth (which was the salvation of mankind).

Yes, Jesus was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

And beloved, even when we are hurting with the very worst pain, we do not have permission to take our eyes off Jesus.

Remember what it says in Hebrews 12:1-2:

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV).

O beloved, we have to remember this. “Keeping your eyes on Jesus.” “Looking unto Jesus.” And even as it says in Colossians:

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2 NKJV). 

We must set our mind on things above, not on things on this earth. We must seek only those things which are above, where Christ is. And that means:

When we are hurting with the very worst pain, we still have to think only Jesus.

Beloved, I’m preaching to myself as well as to you. I’m hurting this morning; not going to lie. And I’m feeling the temptation to lick my wounds; to get angry; to feel sorry for myself; to quit; to point the finger; to walk away in a huff from things that are important; to rage at God; and all the things. What I’m going through is unjust and painful, and it hurts me to my very core.

But going the way of self-pity is a slippery, slippery slope from which the return is very hard. It’s much better to just keep my eyes (and for you, to keep your eyes) on JESUS, the Author and the Finisher of our faith.

Here’s what that looks like:

• It looks like giving thanks to the Lord, instead of complaining to the Lord.
• It looks like being grateful for what you have, instead of murmuring about what you don’t have.
• It looks like activating your holy imagination and pondering on the thought that you are hidden in Christ, so all you can see behind and before and above and beneath yourself is CHRIST. Do this complete with forming a mental picture of this in your head, so you can imagine (in image form; that’s what imagining IS) that you have only Christ above you, Christ beneath you, Christ behind you, Christ before you, Christ on every side. You are surrounded by Christ!
• It looks like acknowledging to Jesus in prayer and confession that you may not know what, when, why, or how–but you do know WHO, and that your “Who” is HIM, and that is all you need to know.

Beloved, whatever the positive is of where you are at today, it is faith that got you there.

And what I’ve been hearing from Holy Spirit since our last days in Guatemala last week is this:

“Faith got us here, and faith will get us home.”

Yeah, bad stuff happens. And sometimes the bad happens because good simply didn’t happen. So sometimes, it’s not that anything bad happened in particular; you just find yourself in a tough spot because the good thing you prayed for didn’t happen.

Yet.

But even when bad things happen …

And even if good things didn’t happen …

Beloved, we don’t have permission to lick our wounds in the Spirit, in the natural, or even in the soulish realm.

Instead, we have to keep our eyes on Jesus. We must continue to thank, honor, praise, and glorify Him. And we have to simply know that we are hidden in Christ–and that that truth is all we need to know.

It is faith in Jesus that got you as far as you’ve come, and it is faith in Jesus that will get you home.

I don’t have the answers to what ails you, my friend. I don’t even have the answers to what ails myself. But I know Who does: Jesus. And He will never let us down.

Does this word address what you are doing through today? If so, leave a comment below.