I have in my office an arrow with a sharp tip, a large fishing net, and hoola hoops. No this is not a training ground for the circus. These are tools used to illustrate boundaries, soul woundings, and oppression. 

          Over the past 22 years these have been used countless times as illustrations when working with individuals who have been wounded/offended in the body of Christ. Some were hurt years ago and because of not taking proactive steps of righteousness regarding that injury, that wound has become infected.  Just as any wound left untreated creates the danger of systemic infection, such is the same with these soul wounds of brothers and sisters in Christ.  As scripture reveals “see to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” Hebrews 12:15

         It is inevitable we will be hurt or even blatantly sinned against by another. The key is what we will choose to do with that wounding.  Important to also understand, we will also hurt and sin against others. None of us is an island unto ourselves. We are to be connected members of the body. It is each of our responsibilities to attempt to keep that connection clean between one another. Hence if “your brother sins against you go to him”  or “if someone has an ought against you run to them…” First and foremost, however, there is a work that must occur within the individual before the Lord examining their own heart.

          The hoola hoops represent each individual’s “territory”.  Let’s say an individual betrayed another.  That is an arrow to the heart.  The person who betrayed is responsible for their sin. Once that arrow is shot and crosses over into the territory of the other (the offended) this person has the burden to decide what to do about this arrow.  Typically folks hold tightly to that arrow in their heart, rehashing over and over again what this person has done to them, and proceed with navigating through life with one hand over the wounded heart and the other to keep others at a distance.  After all nothing smarts more than someone bumping up against an arrow lanced into the heart.

             As long as the injured allows this wound to fester they give room to the devil to “add to” the original wounding.  By this I mean self-pity becomes the petri dish for lies and distortions to wrap around the offense.  I have worked with clients who have held onto an arrow for many years.  Because of unforgiveness they have been imprisoned in what Jesus calls the “tormentor’s prison”  (Matthew 18:34)  In that prison when they think of the person who wounded them, and have deep emotional pain, they believe the pain is due to the offense. They believe the greater degree of pain is equal to the grievous degree of the sin this person committed against them. The truth is the pain is due to what they have failed to do with the arrow.  The memory of the wounding has not only grown infected but oppression has set in. Which is what the net is used for. When this net is placed over my head I get a true sense of the shroud of oppression.  The missing step was not turning to the Lord and allowing His grace to be the spiritual antibiotic ointment.

            The common belief is “I have all of this pain because of……………..”  How sad when an immediate removal of the arrow could have occurred through turning to the Lord, allowing Him to bind up the wound and releasing the other person (and in doing so releasing one’s self) through forgiveness. Hence the verse in Hebrews pointing to “the grace” of the Lord. No man can redeem the life of another; no man can bind up a spiritual wound.  Yet some folks continue on with that arrow in place hoping the one who shot it will one day return to acknowledge the depth of pain this caused as well as remove it.  In the meantime a root of bitterness is growing like kudzu.

             We are living in an age in America where the notion of pain has become elevated as an idol. When we hear Christians speak of having trauma from a past situation and because of that trauma they will never be free this totally contradicts what is written in scripture regarding the power of the person of the crucified, resurrected Jesus Christ. We have three battlefields on this earthly plane: the world, the devil and the flesh.  If we are not careful we will find ourselves in the net of all three at the same time flailing around wondering “where is God?”  He is right where He has always been: on the throne. However, those of us who are redeemed, have been given the power of the Holy Spirit “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons (huios) of God” (Romans 8: 14) It is the mature who are led by the Spirit of God.  When our perspective about suffering is in line with scripture, that we will indeed share in His sufferings; these times of trial and testing used by Him to shape and mold us into the image of Jesus, we cease to give power to the event or the person and, instead, surrender it to the Lord. After all it is all about His kingdom come and His will being done.

             When we read Paul’s writings in Phillipians 4:4-9 we see He, through His suffering, had been able to arrive at that high peak of perspective no matter the velocity of the abuse.  He had just been beaten, shackled to a wall in that state of physical and emotional pain when he wrote “rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. THE LORD IS NEAR.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God. AND THE PEACE OF GOD which transcends all understanding will GUARD your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

               There are many among us in the body of Christ, shackled to a person or event in the past, believing that person or event is what has kept them imprisoned, robbing them of joy and disabling their ability to live freely. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.”  Galatians 5:1 

                The net in my office used as an illustration of oppression? There is nothing more powerful than to see an individual take that net, cast it as far away as possible from them and declare they are no longer enslaved. “Cast all your cares upon the Lord for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7  The arrow? The Lord will remove it when one repents of serving the idol of pain and unforgiveness.  He is the Great Spiritual Physician.