When Wiping Hurts

All four of my boys are sick.

Man-sick.

The house is filled with coughing, tissues, dramatic groans… and so much snot. I didn’t know this much snot could exist under one roof. Moms, apparently, are not allowed to get sick. We are the medicine dispensers, the soup makers, the forehead feelers in the middle of the night.

But it’s my littlest one who has undone me.

He can’t blow or wipe his own nose yet, so it just runs constantly—down his face, onto his shirt, across his cheeks. His tiny nose and upper lip are red and raw from all the irritation. When I come toward him with a warm washcloth, he turns his head. He cries. He pushes my hands away.

It hurts him when I wipe his face.

And I get it. The skin is tender. The friction stings. In his little mind, I am the one causing the pain. He doesn’t understand that I’m trying to help him breathe. He doesn’t know that what feels sharp and uncomfortable in the moment is actually bringing relief.

I found myself wishing he understood.

Baby, I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to help you.

And then it hit me.

Isn’t that just like us with the Lord?

We resist the very thing that will bring healing. We push back against the discomfort of discipline, the sting of correction, the ache of a hard season. We cry out, “Why would You let this hurt?” while God, in His kindness, sees what we cannot.

He knows what’s clogging our spiritual breathing.
He sees the irritation building.
He understands what will ultimately bring relief.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” — Hebrews 12:11

Later on.

That’s the part my young son doesn’t understand.
And if I’m honest, it’s the part I struggle with too.

God’s ways are not cruel. They are careful.
He is not careless with our pain. He is purposeful.

When He wipes away something we’re clinging to…
When He allows a season that feels raw and tender…
When He gently but firmly addresses what’s festering…

It may sting.

But He is not trying to wound us.
He is helping us breathe again.

Just like I hold my little boy’s face steady, even when he protests, our Father holds us in seasons we don’t understand. He is not frustrated by our tears. He isn’t offended by our resistance. He simply sees beyond the moment.

He knows the relief that’s coming.

So if you’re in a season that feels tender and raw… if God’s work in your life feels more like friction than comfort… take heart.

The One allowing the wipe is the One who loves you most.

And just like a weary mom in a house full of sickness, He is not stepping away.

He is helping you heal. 

~ Elsie