About 4 weeks ago, in a moment of having fun with her Dad,
my daughter got a button fracture on her growth plate in her knee. In order to
prevent further or worse injury, the pediatrician encouraged us to have her
casted in a full leg cast.
For these weeks since, she learned how to operate as near
normal as possible with the cast on her straightened leg, as it healed. It was
amazing to see her overcome and make use of what could have been an enormous
obstacle. She could run, even jump, and play with the cast on, and it didn’t
even phase her after awhile.
Then came the day, when the Dr said she was healed enough
for us to remove the cast. She was sore physically, and she was sad emotionally.
The ordeal to remove the cast was scary for her. There was a loud tool that
caused vibration and concern for her, and then came the removal of the hard
exterior cast. Then the Dr cut off the inner cast material and the feel of the
trimming scissors against her skin was cold and foreign. The Dr encouraged us
to not use any ace bandages or other assistance device to help her in the
healing process. He advised no
physical therapy was necessary.
Despite having been healed, it’s been a number of days
before our daughter has put weight on her leg, and now she is just beginning to
walk, but limping, and walking similar to when she had the cast on, casting her
leg out to the side. She is growing more and more sure as the days go on
regarding walking and her strength, but most of all, I can see in this whole
process, the adversity she’s shown, the confidence she’s gained in processes of
healing and the patience these experiences have taught her. Most of all, I can
see how God is using these circumstances to strengthen her resolve and
resiliency for future challenges and tests. The cast was temporary as a
precaution, but not forever.
Much the same way this story of physical growth has unfolded
for our blessed daughter, I can “see” how God gives us similar circumstances
spiritually speaking.
Just as our daughter unexpectedly and unwantingly got
injured while enjoying time and life with her dad, we too have come across
situations, circumstances and people whom we’ve cared about that have hurt us
and wounded us. Just like with my sweet daughter, God has allowed us not to
come into that situation not because He doesn’t care, but because He has the
knowledge, the tools, the ultimate care and the love to help us heal, and most
of the time, to even better than we were before. After all we are His. He’s created us and formed us, even
knew us before we were formed in our mother’s wombs (He reminds us in Jer 1:5)
Our tests will always lend themselves to being our
testimonies. Our trials will always be what instill in us the spirit and
strength for overcoming all the other nonsense that might come against us in
life. Most of all the “casts” that sustain us in the healing processes, no
longer serve us well after those healing processes are coming to an end. God
removes that thing, and in turn He becomes our ultimate protection. After all,
He is who we were are ultimately searching for and needing to begin with, He
provides the rivers of living water that are the only quenchable source of
wholeness for our souls and “dry bones”. Therefore, He is ever removing the
defense mechanism, crutch, thing or person that holds place above or beside Him.
When that temporary comfort is
removed it will feel foreign and scary, but without it removed, we will be
handicapped ultimately, and never complete, walking in our utmost capacity.
What’s become our safety precaution to prevent further injury, will never serve
us well, and God, our ultimate physician will see to it, to help you continue
on your road to healing without any “cast”. Is God speaking to you through this today? Is there a “cast”
that He’s removed from you that you’ve been fighting to have back? Have you
been stagnant waiting for Him to put it back on, so you can move forward? Or
will you trust that He is there to see you through to healing and in turn
making the move forward with Him?
See, God often allows things to happen to us, where He
asks us to cast our care. (Psalm 55:22 (AMP) Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the
weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently]
righteous to be moved). He sustains us in growth and strength from and
through Himself, while we heal. He gives us circumstances and situations, from
which are safe places, and protective things for us to heal from hurts and
pains. But when it comes time for Him to remove those things so that we can fly
again, we must not fight the process of change and newness. After all, those
things were only provided for us as an interim safe precaution as we grow in
Him and through Him. Remember in 2
Corinthians 5:17, it is promised, “anyone who belongs to Christ has
become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
The Lord will never allow anything to come upon us that’s
more than we can bear. (1 Corinthians 10:13) He will never allow anything to
happen to us that He can’t work for good because He loves us and our very life
He’s given us is a gift, yes. But not for ourselves. He chose us! (John 15:16) We
are put here on this earth to be the hands and feet of our awesome Father God.
He’s not promised that life wouldn’t be hard or have its ups and downs, but
He’s promised He will always be with us, giving us casts, blessings, help and
hope in times of hurt and healing. He’s there, the great physician, the great
helper, casting, caring, cutting away the unnecessary molds when we’ve healed
enough to have them removed. He’s trusting you to put weight on that wound now.
He’s trusting you to move forward, knowing that while you may not have seen it
actually happen, the healing has occurred, and you can trust that now, moving
forward, you’ll get to remake and remold those muscles, using gifts of spirit,
hope, faith and patience, long suffering and gentleness, as you be gentle with
yourself in the course hereafter of rebirth and remaking a strong leg in this spirit
journey. You do have a leg to stand on. You do have muscles in this limb. They
simply need to be tested again. Tried again. Believed in again, to be
strengthened and honed for this race. A race to which He reminds us there is a
prize of a crown that will last forever… to be in relationship and Kingdom come
with His blessed, able, faithful and radiant Son. (1 Corinthians 9: 24-25)
There was this quote that hung, coincidentally, on my
ex-therapists wall. I always admired it, but never really did I think about it
until recently, how very true it was. From Anais Nin “And the day came when the
risk to remain tight in a bud, was far greater than the risk it took to
blossom”. I propose today…what if those rough things happened so that you could
blossom? What if God needed to allow those things happen with His protective
covering over you, so that you can become all you are meant to be in Him? What if
your sad story is actually your freedom song? What if we actually believed Him
when He says, I am working all things for the good of those who love Me and who
have been called according to My purpose. (Romans 8:28). Because really? What
higher honor or blessing do we have than to be the son or daughter of The King
of Kings and Lord of Lords? Our lives truly aren’t our own, and they are apart
of a tapestry of Kingdom calling. Without the thread of your life in this
tapestry, God’s greater plan would not take shape for His love of humanity and
the world, which He so loves. Have you ever seen the back of a beautiful trapestry?
(funny how I just typed tapestry accidentally, right? Because that’s what the
devil would have us think! That it’s a trap where we can’t be ourselves or
break free and this unfeeling, enormous, uncaring God just wants to use and
abuse us-but that is a lie from the father of lies-Satan!) The back of a
tapestry is a beautiful mess. It’s threads all over the place, but the front,
what you cannot see from the back, is a gorgeous masterpiece. So what if your
thread is manipulated and intertwined a thousand ways and times for the good of
the whole. You are apart of it nevertheless, and in a big way! Trust God and His plan for the
threadwork of your beautiful life, your blessed life. That you woke up today,
and have a heartbeat and pulse. That is a blessing. That means that He is not
done with you, He’s just getting started. That’s hope. That’s blessing. That’s
meaning and definition to it’s fullest. Keep moving forward in God. He’s
healing the wounds and restoring them to even better than before. But you have
to give Him something to work with!
Father God, I pray for my brothers and sisters in Christ now
Lord. I thank You for them. For your love in them. Your light. Most of all Lord
I thank you that even before they were formed in their mother’s womb You knew
them and set them apart and declared them prophets unto the nations. Thank You
that You’ve always protected us Lord and you always will. That you never allow
more than what we can bear to come upon us, but helping us to keep our eyes on
what You have for us, and in turn for Your Kingdom! We want to bless You and
Your Kingdom God. We want to bless your people, and we want to not just have
but enjoy the lives that Your Precious Son died to give us. Jesus be the Lord
of our lives. Have all the authority and power. Take Control. We give it to
you. Make us more like ourselves in You. Show us Your way, Your truth and Your
life. In Jesus Name. Thank you for always giving us what we need, not what we
want. We trust You Lord. All our hope is in You, and You alone. In Jesus Name.
Amen.
Many Blessings and In His Love,
Amy O
