Toss the Whipping Stick

“…occasionally I wished I could walk through a picture window and have the sharp, broken shards slash me to ribbons so I would finally look like I felt.” ~ Elizabeth Wurtzel

One thing is for sure; life is hard. The world can be a dark and lonely place to live and regularly broadcast what a successful and meaningful life should look like in the world. When we fall short of the world’s chosen idea for what our life should represent, we become vulnerable to self-loathing and morbid reflection. In that moment of swimming in the abyss of darkness, self-harm becomes a means to an end. We desire for nothing more than for the pain to end. It’s time to toss the whipping stick!

Our pain and suffering encourage us to pick up the razor, the pills, the bottle, the needle, the pipe, the food, the credit card, the knife, the gun, the rope, etc., all representing the whipping stick. We commence afflicting physical pain to address the spiritual, mental, and emotional anguish we are experiencing on the inside. We seek an outward solution for an inward problem. It’s time to toss the whipping stick!

Without God at the center of our lives, we become spiritual beings pursuing happiness and satisfaction through worldly means, which is impossible to obtain. Yet, we go to great lengths to conquer the unconquerable. We are spiritual beings created to have a spiritual experience, not a worldly one. The Spiritual life is the pursuit of loving and serving others and letting go of the need for self-gratification at all costs. This self-centered approach to life leads to becoming resistless, irritable, and discontent and setting ourselves up for a struggle, ultimately leading to self-harm in one fashion or another. It’s time to toss the whipping stick!

What scars do you possess from the whipping stick of life?

What hurt, habit or hang-up has you holding the whipping stick?

What’s it going to take for you to toss the whipping stick once and for all?

Friend, there is hope; you are not beyond help. God could and would solve your problem if sought. Let me encourage you to become a seeker and to pursue a God-centered life over a self-centered one. You’ll be glad you did, and so will the people that love you, especially the One who created you.

God of forgiveness, healing, and love. Thank You for providing a way out of this self-serving web we humans call life. You created me to love You, others as myself, and to help change the world. The world has other plans and goes to great lengths to lure me into the pursuit of SELF… Please forgive me, heal me, and help me receive Your love. Your power is beyond resistance; please use Your power to weaken my hand so that I may drop this whipping stick once and for all. In Your Spirit and Name, I pray these things. May Your will not mine always materialize, now and forever. Amen. 

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash