Let me preface this by saying I really have no choice in how my pain is delivered. Nor do I have a choice of what, when, why, by whom…. well, I think you get my point. God is in control of my life - even when I don’t want to admit it, even when I think I have the reins. It’s all God, all the time.
That said, I still like to think of pain I know is coming in the context of a bandage needing to come off a wound. In that context, I like my bandage ripped off all at once. With the pain coming quick, I can work through it all at once and be done with it. It just doesn’t make sense to me to prolong the agony. My husband, on the other hand, is a slow peeler of bandages. He will pull it off some, wince some, pull some more, wince some more, etc. And that’s okay - it’s his pain and his bandage and his decision, right?
I currently have a metaphorical bandage on my life. It’s time for removal is soon coming. I am hoping that the one taking the bandage off will understand my preference of dealing with the pain. I hope the one taking it off will minister to me in the way that is most effective for me. Self-centered? No, I don’t think so. I think we all need to be ministered to in the way best applicable to us. Now, that is NOT to say that we water down God’s truth in our ministering, or that we omit God’s word and His truth from our ministering. I am just saying that we, in our ministry to each other, need to give the truth (metaphorically, remove the bandage) in a way that can be edifying to the one being ministered.
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