A few months ago I decided to get a pre-vacation manicure. Against my better judgment I agreed to allow the technician to do a gel manicure. My nails looked beautifully flawless for vacation, so initially I was happy. Then, after a few weeks, it was time for the polish to come off, and that is where the trouble began. After the process to remove the polish my normally thick and healthy nails were left damaged and thin. They looked terrible and even my attempt to cover them with plain polish was only mildly successful. 

 

Now, my damaged nails are growing out and slowly being replaced by healthy ones. I was looking at my slowly transforming nails one day, seeing the stark difference between the old and scarred versus smooth and new as they gradually grew out. I realized I was looking at a visual representation of how slow healing often is. This transformation I was witnessing on my hands was not so different from the one that occurs in our minds and hearts when we heal from past hurts. 

 

About a year ago I started therapy and the first thing we did was uncover the past. I was there to have a better future, a healthier mind and heart going forward, and I didn’t want to look back at the past. “I’m not here to talk about that,” I thought. But, as we exposed broken thought patterns and the roots of some of my unhealthy ways I began to see why it’s important to remove not only the source of the trauma but anything we use to cover it up. Over time, through therapy and Jesus, I have learned to break the cycle of harmful thought patterns and overcome the past. Healing my mind and heart is a process, and still in progress, but I can see it happening as clearly as I see the change in my fingernails.

 

We all need healing. Most of us are guilty of bad behavior from time to time, maybe more often than we would like. We lose our tempers with our loved ones or repeatedly make the same irresponsible decisions and either attempt to cover up our mistakes, or will our way into better choices. Sometimes the way to think and act differently today is to look back. Find out what is behind our sin and struggles, where and why they started. The hardest part of healing might be exposure, because we have to reveal the ugly truth to ourselves and others. But, just like a vain attempt to cover damaged fingernails, hiding and beautifying our wounds does nothing to heal them. Once the past is known and understood, a new way forward can be revealed. Eventually, with care and new growth, wounds are healed. 

 

Healing is slow, sometimes hard, and might even be painful in the process. We try to curate our hearts with self-help, self-soothing, and self-control, but there is only one true cure for our suffering: the love of Jesus. And, sometimes therapy helps us to understand and apply that love a little better. If you find yourself repeatedly struggling with the same thing, maybe it’s time to get help in exposing the root cause, removing any unhealthy covering, and finding a new and better way forward.