According to Webster's Dictionary, RAW means "(of a part of the body) red and painful, especially as the result of skin abrasion."
Today many people are walking around RAW. For the sake of this article, we will view the word RAW as an acronym of "Restless and Wounded." How does one become RAW? Who do you know today that might be RAW? Possibly it is YOU?
Life as we know it on this earth is HARD! No way around it, we will experience some tough challenges. We will deal with pain, grief and disappointment. It is not a matter of "IF" but "WHEN" will it happen. Unfortunately, these challenges and injustices are no respecter of age. They can occur any time from birth to death. Recently, an innocent newborn was left at a fire station because the mother did not want or could not care for the newborn. Life started with a great injustice for that precious little one. We know of couples in their 70's filing for divorce. Life has just provided a tough blow to handle in their golden years. Life on earth is unpredictable!
Life's blows create restless and wounded, RAW hearts. When we fail to process these blows and/or heal from them, our hearts can quickly become RAW. A RAW heart can create a false persona of the real heart beneath the wounds.
If you have ever had a blister on your inner palm and it busts open exposing the inner 
layer of skin, you understand there is pain that comes with that exposure. One tries their best to keep everything away from the RAW skin so as not to make it hurt worse and possibly infect the RAW area.
As men and women walking this earth today, we do the same thing when we have a RAW heart. We do everything we can to keep any additional pain from affecting a RAW heart. For example, one may isolate himself emotionally from those he loves because he cannot bear to trust for fear of disappointment again. Possibly one may have a short fuse and erupt repeatedly like a volcano because of a RAW heart. Another may have developed depression and literally is trying to survive day to day. If we live long enough, we will encounter or possibly become one of many individuals walking around with RAW hearts.
Let's look at a few synonyms of restless:
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Agitated |
Anxious |
Disturbed |
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Edgy |
Fidgety |
Nervous |
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Troubled |
Uneasy |
Unsettled |
As you read these words, you might have had someone's face come to mind. Perhaps you experience these feelings frequently. As we travel through life, we will encounter various negative experiences. It is how we process these times that will determine the state of our heart.
According to Merriam-Webster, the word wounded means "injured, hurt by, or suffering from a wound." Many times, our wounded heart is the reason behind our restless demeanor or behavior.
Acquiring a RAW heart is not a hard task in this world. Many people do not live by the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." Consequently, heart wounds are afflicted on many. So, the question is how do we heal a RAW heart?
It is easy to understand that a RAW heart can struggle to feel secure, loved, needed, peaceful, kind, compassionate, forgiving, etc. Many have tried to heal these wounds with band-aids, stitches and/or staples. Each of these are temporary fixes. They may work for a while, but eventually the wound returns. What a RAW heart truly needs is a transplant!
Just like when we weed a garden, if we do not get the root out of the ground completely, the weed will grow back. The same is true of our wounds. We may be able to bury them deeper for a time, but at some point, they will resurrect. The only way to receive a transplant, spiritually speaking, is from God. God reaches down into our very hardened stony heart full of restlessness and wounds and gives us a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26 says, "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh."
God will give us a heart that can love, trust, show compassion, forgive, and receive the other fruits of the Holy Spirit. The first step to healing a RAW heart is to recognize there are deep wounds. Once a heart is infected with a wound, unless that wound is properly healed, the infection will spread and hold us in bondage. A RAW heart cannot display the beauty we were created to share.
1 Peter 3:4
"but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."
It is God's desire that our true beauty starts with our heart! When we walk around with RAW hearts, our beauty is being distorted. The next time someone responds to you in an unkind manner, ask the Lord to help you see them as someone who is walking around RAW (Restless and Wounded). This world is tough and many times we make it tougher by our responses.
God's transplant works like a woman who uses a deep cleansing mask on her face to pull 
out the impurities deep beneath the surface. God takes his scalpel and cuts deeply into the chest cavity and pulls out the infected heart that has become stone and replaces it with a fresh heart of flesh that can love again. After the full recovery of the transplant, "°the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit°" can begin to shine once again. This is truly the work of the Great Physician!
It is our prayer that this article has helped you recognize if you are walking around with a RAW (Restless and Wounded) heart. God wants you to be set FREE! He wants to give you a transplant, not a band-aid, stitches or staples. If you are experiencing a RAW heart today, please check out these resources and let the Holy Spirit guide you on your pathway to freedom.
