Hidden Pain

Scripture tells us that God is concerned about the painful states of our hearts. (Psalm 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, And bindeth up their wounds. Yet, members of the body of Christ have mastered hiding their hurts, instead of bringing their brokenness to the altar. Church hurt and family hurt are two areas of pain that are more than likely to be hidden. In many cases members receive church hurt from someone in leadership. In family hurts, many times some of the deepest levels of pain is experienced by either a spouse, parent, or a child. There's a saying that states, Hurt People Hurt People.
Sometimes because someone has been hurt and the pain has not been dealt with, they become the one inflicting pain. This can also be true for those in leadership positions in the church. Also, when pain is caused by those that you hold close to your hurt, the pain is hidden because the victim doesn't want to bring shame on that person or the family. In the church there could be many reasons for not speaking to them.
I feel one of the biggest reasons why people do not discuss their pain and choose to hide it is because they do not feel comfortable doing so. As we discussed in past studies, churches may not offer a safe & confidential place where the members can feel confident & safe to share.
One of the reasons the church may not address these issues within the body could be because the leadership themselves could be dealing with their own pains. In a handout from last year's teaching, it was stated that statistically there's a 25% increase of suicide in the church from 1999-2015 and 35% of Pastors battle depression.
For a healthy communication of past or present wounds, I recommend that first the leadership acknowledge their pain and get counseling. Secondly l recommend the leadership either having Christian counselors in their church or provide the resources to Christian counselors that they may be able to offer the members. Third, I recommend having open discussions about pain and how important it is to deal with it in a healthy and biblical way. There are examples in the bible to open that discussion such as 1 Kings 19:1-4 when Elijah was so depressed that he wanted to die.
The body of Christ is so used to putting on a facade of appearing perfect and this is another big reason for hiding the pain in my opinion.