God's Sacred Ground

Have you ever had someone make a comment that hurt your feelings? Made you angry? Frustrated you? I could go on. The answer is yes, of course. It has happened to all of us. Sometimes it is accidental. We've all said things that the receiver takes the wrong way. Hopefully, they'll tell us what we did. And hopefully, we rise above and apologize.
But, what about when this occurs and you have the extreme sense it was done with malice? And, you also perceive discussing it over with said malicious person may only increase the cruelty of the response? Or, worst case scenario, this person has treaded on something so sacred the anger and sorrow tears you in two? What's a person to do?
Counselors and pastors would tell us to forgive. Forget and move on. Pray for the offender and yourself. They probably would agree that it isn't going to be easy. They may encourage us to talk over our upset with the person, though you be may wary of doing so.
While reading this, you may have guessed this has recently happened to me. Extenuating circumstances made the comment that much more painful. Letting it bother me to the point I did also didn't aid in recovery. And forgiveness? Please!
As usual, I concluded I was the only one to EVER be hurt this way. If you tend to do this too, don't buy into it. You'll miss the miracle of group or even duet healing. Which leads me to my next point.
While explaining all of this to a friend, he/she told me his/her story. Different entirely yet remarkably similiar, this person explained his/her situation not only to me but to the receptive other party. This receptive party member is someone I truly admire. Intelligent, funny, and extremely faithful, the "member" never meant to hurt. With understanding and love, the member had a Spirit fed revelation.
"Some situations in our life our sacred. Someone treads on that sacred ground, with or without meaning to hurt, and we can't help but respond with a big ol' ouch!" I'm paraphrasing here, however not the "sacred ground" term used. Again, we all have it and have all been there when it has been uprooted.
I can't tell you how much this advice helped me. I had wanted to call up my perpetrator and yell, blame, lash out. I sort of did do this when I discussed my feelings with my husband. He gets it though. I think he likes the fact he married a fighter. Or, he goes to his very happy place-Disney-and ignores me.
Anyhow, I took a break from this experience and prayed. Yes, your pastor and counselor have a point. I encountered peace. I encountered God rolling a huge stone across my decision to explain anything to the "tromper" of my garden. And, I began to see it flourish. Sure, forgiveness is the next step. I'm getting there. I'm praying for it.
And, I'm seeing God wrap me in His blanket of security while we weed the issue together. He's excellent with his gardening tools and always has a bandage in His pocket.