We are only as sick as our secrets. We all have parts of our story we're not proud of - wounds that run deep. But here's the hope: nothing is beyond God's restoration through forgiveness.

The problem? We don't go deep enough. We do surface work, acknowledge the wound, maybe pray about it. But we don't meet God IN the wound. We don't invite Him into that deep, dark place. So it never fully heals.

For me, it was abandonment. Seven years old when my dad died. Left alone constantly while my mom worked to take care of us. That wound taught me one truth: people leave. And for decades, I carried it like a badge. "I have abandonment issues" became my excuse instead of my history.

But I wasn't just carrying the wound - I was picking at it. Reopening it on purpose. Taking the knife and sliding it wide open. Because if I stayed the victim, at least I had control. The victim gets sympathy. The victim doesn't get abandoned.

Except that's bullshit.

The actual work? Discovering the wound. Writing it down. Asking: what did I GET from this? Fear. The wound kept me in fear, fear kept me in anxiety, anxiety kept the wound open.

Then bringing God in: writing letters I'd never send, asking "Where were You when this happened?", declaring forgiveness aloud, identifying the lies ("I'm not worth staying for"), countering them with truth. Every day speaking to my soul: "You are no longer bleeding. You are healing, fully and completely, with God's help."

Here's what I'm learning: It's not completely healed yet. I'm still doing the daily work. Still catching myself reaching for that knife. But the anxiety? Far less powerful. It doesn't run the show anymore.

The temptation is to keep picking at the scar. To use old wounds as current excuses. "I can't do relationships." "I'm too broken for..." But if you've done the work - brought God into it, declared forgiveness, countered the lies - it's time to accept the healing and LIVE like it's true.

Stop picking at the scars. Stop proving you're still wounded. The work is done. Now live like it.

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