You surrender it to God on Sunday. By Thursday, it creeps back in. Softly at first, then with the full weight of memory. You pray it away in February and by June, you find yourself crying over it all over again.
This is not failure. This is healing. And healing has never looked linear.
Society often champions those who “rise quickly” the ones who post before-and-after stories without showing the mess in between. In faith communities, this pressure can feel even sharper. We are taught to believe in breakthroughs and we wrestle with guilt when the pain returns.
“Did I not believe hard enough?”
“Have I failed God?”
The answer is simple, though not easy: You are human. Healing is not a one-time transaction; it is a journey that often moves in spirals.
You see, surrender is a rhythm, not a Rule
To be clear, surrendering to God is not a one-and-done event. It is a daily rhythm. Some days you lay your burdens down and feel peace; other days you pick them up again subconsciously and must return them once more to divine hands.
This isn’t moving backward. It’s building spiritual muscle. It’s becoming resilient. Healing often looks like:
Praying with a trembling voice. Smiling with wet eyes. Forgiving again, even after you thought it was finished. Carrying both hope and heartache simultaneously.
If your wound throbs again in June after months of peace, you are not back at square one. You are still healing. And healing, in all its messiness, is still holy.
Let no one shame you for what doesn’t heal quickly. Let no one rush what God is tenderly rebuilding. Even Jesus wept, and even Jesus bled yet He healed. And so will you.