Health has been on everyone's agenda these days. What if we didn't just take good care of our bodies, but also our hearts?

Our hearts are the parts of us we can't see, yet it impacts every aspect of our lives. When our hearts are healthy, our lives are full, and we can begin to experience meaningful relationships with God and others.

When our hearts are broken, we walk around with heavy spirits and we can begin to lose hope. We might isolate ourselves, afraid that we'll be hurt again. We may even overcompensate for this brokenness by developing coping mechanisms that leave us feeling emptier than ever.

I know first-hand that wounds caused by the people in our inner-circle – especially our family – can take the longest to heal. Sometimes, the process seems nearly impossible.

Last year, I was carrying a big load of emotional baggage, but I refused to admit it.

One day, I went to a Christian conference where I volunteered to pray for anyone who needed it. The thing is, no one came to me for prayer! Everyone was lining up to get prayer from other volunteers! I knew this wasn't something to take personally. Still, I was a teensy bit annoyed and wondered if I had made a mistake for volunteering in the first place.

With my eyes closed, I asked God to help me not feel this way. In my heart, I heard God speaking:

Jasmine, before you can pray for others to be healed, I want to heal you first.

I thought God wanted to heal me of the sharp pain in my lower back, something I had for many weeks!

But suddenly, I saw a vivid vision (God's way of communicating to people using powerful imagery) in my mind:

I saw a large open wound on my thigh that looked fresh. It was painful and bleeding. I felt God standing right next to me in the vision, but I immediately hid the wound from Him.

I found myself crying as I said to Him,"I don't want you to see this…"

I knew this wound was symbolic of the hurt I had been carrying in my heart for quite some time, and to see it up close was overwhelming. I felt so ashamed to admit to God I was still hurting because the painful experience had happened so long ago. "Why am I not 'over it' by now?" I thought hopelessly.

But God gently spoke to my heart, "Jasmine, when you hurt, I hurt. You don't have to be afraid to show me your heart. I already know about this wound. I want to heal you."

His voice was so kind and tender, and despite my reluctance, I ultimately knew I could trust Him. Slowly, I lifted up my pant-leg (again, this is all in my vision) and exposed this fleshy wound to God. I saw His loving hands dressing my wound, gently caring for it. Then the vision was over.

God used this vision to show me that I had a deep wound in my heart I was running away from. If I didn't seek His help, the wound would only get worse, partially crippling me from moving forward with the rest of my life.

Since that day, I've felt so much lighter. There are days, however, when my heart still aches from fresh disappointments. But this week, I spoke with a woman who told me God's been healing her emotionally from built-up pain she's experienced from her family for the past 35 years! She said it so cheerfully, not at all phased by the length of her healing process.

She reminded me that while God can heal us instantly, healing can also look like a journey to recovery.

If you're hurting, I encourage you to continue reading. I've included a prayer with each section because I know how difficult it can be to express our pain out loud, especially to God. These have been my own prayers. I encourage you to say them out-loud and wait for God's response after each prayer. He wants to speak to you personally, whether it's with a gentle word, vision, or thought. He is closer to you than you know.

Going through this process has been revolutionary for me. In the past, I would pretend I was fine and try to avoid the people who hurt me. Sometimes I even imagined taking revenge, not realizing that this was a downward spiral that caused my heart to become more wounded along the way. Because of Jesus, I have been able to fully recover, forgive, and move on without old pain haunting me or holding me back from truly enjoying my life! Jesus has been my refuge in very dark times, and I pray you will also find comfort and safety under His wings.