Bleeding

In a continuing education class, we were taught how to help an injured person from dying due to uncontrolled bleeding. The instructor was very detailed because she wanted us to be equipped with the necessary information to help save a life. Three different approaches were explained to help save a life. One way was to apply pressure to the area, another was to use a tourniquet to the area, and wound packing and direct pressure was the third method. One would determine which method to use based on the body part where the blood was coming from. There is no one size fits all solution to stop the bleeding.

As she taught the class, the image of people walking around wounded by life experiences came to mind. All I could see was people living life with bleeding wounds. Physically, they appear find, but the source of their bleeding is not physical. Just like a person can physically bleed to death, one can be injured and not live as God wants them too. God’s yearning of helping people live surpasses the instructors desire. Whether a person has caused themselves a self-inflicted injury or was injured intentionally or unintentionally by another person, the outcome is still damaging and hurtful. God is concerned with people living and not dying. If the area has not stopped bleeding, then a person continues to live a life less than what God intended for them.

The same concept applies in our lives to overcome our own injuries. Before any of the methods are used, the actual wound must be found because this indicates the source from which the blood is coming from. In other words, it demonstrates where the problem lays. Only then will a person be able to assist in stopping the bleeding. Similarly, in helping a person heal from wounds, the problem must be identified. Once the problem is known, then the method needed to help becomes clear. God wants no one to die from and unresolved hurt. By dying, I mean living a life less than what God intends for you. What are a couple of things that interfere with our living? Physical or emotional hurts from others and self-inflicted hurts from our own choices.

If people want to stop bleeding from their hurts, they will have to endure the process and methods used to stop the blood flow. The process will be painful, but the result will be well worth it. Part of our training consisted of two hands on activities. In one of the activities, I was role playing as the injured person. My partner placed a tourniquet on my arm to stop the bleeding. If I was truly bleeding out, my partner would continue to twist the windlass until no more blood was coming out. She only did a few twists because we were in a training environment. The twists she did do were painful. We were told that the person might complain, but we are to continue twisting. A few minutes of discomfort must be endured to live.

When you come to the realization that you are living with unresolved issues, will you seek help and allow others to help? Will you endure through the pain and process to remove what is causing the bleeding? The instructor was passionate about us learning the material because it would save a life. But God is more fervent than the instructor because He wants us to live our lives as He intended.