May 24 – Confronting Your Pain

 Job 5:18

“For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal.” (NIV)

SITREP:
When you’ve been hit hard—by war, by loss, by choices you can’t undo—do you bury the pain, or do you face it? Ignoring pain doesn’t bring healing. Facing it does. Bring your wounds before God, and He will bind them up with His love.

These words were spoken by Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends, during their long debate about suffering. While Eliphaz misunderstood many things about Job’s situation, this one line echoes a timeless truth about the character of God: He doesn’t abandon the wounded. He meets them in their pain.

In the ancient world, healing often came through more pain—resetting a broken bone, cutting away infection, cauterizing a wound. It wasn’t pretty, but it was necessary. Likewise, God sometimes allows the breaking—not to destroy you, but to reveal where healing must begin. And when He reveals it, He doesn't stand back. He gets to work, hands-on, to restore what was damaged.

Breaking Down the Verse:

• “For He wounds…” – God allows hardship. It’s not always punishment—sometimes it’s preparation, exposure, or refinement.
• “…but He also binds up” – He doesn’t leave the wound open. He steps in to dress it, to care for it, to bring comfort where pain once ruled.
• “He injures…” – Life comes with blows. But God never stops at the injury.
• “…but His hands also heal” – The same hands that allowed the breaking are now reaching in to restore. Not out of obligation—but out of compassion.

How This Speaks to a Soldier’s Faith:
You’ve been taught to walk it off. Push through. Don’t show weakness. That mindset might keep you alive in combat—but it can kill you in peace. Unaddressed wounds become infection. Silent suffering becomes torment.

You might be carrying wounds you’ve never spoken of:

• Guilt from decisions you had to make.
• Grief over what you couldn’t stop.
• Rage over what was lost.
• Or maybe just emptiness—because something broke, and it never fully came back.

This verse tells you that God sees it. He knows what the war cost you. He knows what broke inside. And He’s not afraid of it.

• He doesn’t shame you for the wound.
• He doesn’t blame you for being hurt.
• He invites you to let Him treat it.

But like any medic, He can only heal what you uncover. The strongest thing you might ever do is let Him in. Let Him bind what’s been bleeding. Let Him rebuild what’s been shattered.

ENDEX:
You’ve patched yourself up long enough. Job 5:18 is your reminder that real healing isn’t found in silence or suppression—it’s found in surrender. God is not done with you. Let Him treat the wounds. His hands are steady, His healing is sure, and He never leaves a soldier half-repaired.

AAR (After Action Review):
If there was a time when you finally let the pain surface—when God met you there and started the healing—don’t keep that story to yourself. Someone else needs to know that broken doesn’t mean beyond repair. Share the moment you stopped hiding the wound and let God begin the work.

Make your voice count—share what you’ve lived.

Share your experiences in the comments below. Your words could encourage someone else walking a similar path.

If you're comfortable, include as much or as little personal detail as you’d like. We suggest:

• Name
• Veteran, Retired, Family Member etc.
• Service Branch
• Years of Service (or Deployment Dates and Locations)

Every story matters—and yours might be exactly what someone else needs to hear.