the healing process . . .
Slowly, my feet feel like they are returning to normal after finishing the marathon last week. It really hurt to walk or move for the first couple days and then I could feel my body healing and I realized what a great thing the healing process is. Not only does our body have a built-in fixing mechanism, which is amazing, the pain serves as a reminder. And the pain is often incremental to the event. I hurt a lot more after last week's run than I have after a ten mile run . . . because more effort, exhertion, emotion, etc was involved.
It makes me think of different painful things I have had in life (emotional pain, physical pain, etc). What a great thing to be able to feel pain! I know . . . it sure doesn't always feel great. In fact, it often feels awful. But I would rather feel pain than be numb. Many years ago, I read a great book about the life and work of Dr. Paul Brand called Ten Fingers for God. Dr. Brand worked with people who had leprosy and was a foundational part of a lot of progress in rehabilitation possibilities. One of the things that the book describes is how much of the damage that leprosy patients suffer on their extremities is due to a lack of pain. There is a story about a man who had damaged feet and Dr. Brand fitted a pair of shoes to try and protect this man's feet, but the damage kept on progressing. After several experimental tries, Dr. Brand discovered that the damage was due in part to the fact that the man could not feel the warning signs of pain and therefore was unable to recognize the damage was taking place.
This really changed my perspective on hurting. When my body is in pain it is often trying to communicate that something is wrong and needs to be addressed; whether it is a thorn in my foot, a tension headache or worse, there are warning signals. Despite the fact that pain hurts, it is often a part of healing.
Several years ago, I wrote this in my journal: without pain, I would not grow; without growth I would become stagnant. Pain is often incorporated into the learning process. Lessons are not always fun or easy to learn, rather they often include pain and discomfort. But there are not many lessons in life that I have regretted learning.
Amusingly, the most pain I have had this week in recovering from running the marathon has been from my sunburn. Yup . . . it has hurt much more than my muscles or joints. I put sunscreen on my face and legs, but I forgot my shoulders and so for the past eight days I have been gingerly moving my arms and trying to avoid putting my backpack on and dealing with blisters, aloe vera and peeling skin. I find it somewhat funny that I hurt more from an oversight in sunscreen than I do from actually running the marathon. Something so easily preventable.
Isn't that often the case in life. We forget to look at the whole picture. If I were to compare it to putting on God's armor (see below). It might be like putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, but ignoring the shield of faith. Verse 13 says to put on the full armor of God. Not partial, not half, but full.
Ephesians 6:13-18
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
So I am choosing to embrace this pain . . . and I hope any other pain in life. Why? Because I do not want to be numb. I don't want to miss out on learning lessons that God has for me. I don't want to be stuck in one place. I want to put on the full armor of God. I want to be able to rejoice in all things.
Philippians 4: 4
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
It makes me think of different painful things I have had in life (emotional pain, physical pain, etc). What a great thing to be able to feel pain! I know . . . it sure doesn't always feel great. In fact, it often feels awful. But I would rather feel pain than be numb. Many years ago, I read a great book about the life and work of Dr. Paul Brand called Ten Fingers for God. Dr. Brand worked with people who had leprosy and was a foundational part of a lot of progress in rehabilitation possibilities. One of the things that the book describes is how much of the damage that leprosy patients suffer on their extremities is due to a lack of pain. There is a story about a man who had damaged feet and Dr. Brand fitted a pair of shoes to try and protect this man's feet, but the damage kept on progressing. After several experimental tries, Dr. Brand discovered that the damage was due in part to the fact that the man could not feel the warning signs of pain and therefore was unable to recognize the damage was taking place.
This really changed my perspective on hurting. When my body is in pain it is often trying to communicate that something is wrong and needs to be addressed; whether it is a thorn in my foot, a tension headache or worse, there are warning signals. Despite the fact that pain hurts, it is often a part of healing.
Several years ago, I wrote this in my journal: without pain, I would not grow; without growth I would become stagnant. Pain is often incorporated into the learning process. Lessons are not always fun or easy to learn, rather they often include pain and discomfort. But there are not many lessons in life that I have regretted learning.
Amusingly, the most pain I have had this week in recovering from running the marathon has been from my sunburn. Yup . . . it has hurt much more than my muscles or joints. I put sunscreen on my face and legs, but I forgot my shoulders and so for the past eight days I have been gingerly moving my arms and trying to avoid putting my backpack on and dealing with blisters, aloe vera and peeling skin. I find it somewhat funny that I hurt more from an oversight in sunscreen than I do from actually running the marathon. Something so easily preventable.
Isn't that often the case in life. We forget to look at the whole picture. If I were to compare it to putting on God's armor (see below). It might be like putting on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, but ignoring the shield of faith. Verse 13 says to put on the full armor of God. Not partial, not half, but full.
Ephesians 6:13-18
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
So I am choosing to embrace this pain . . . and I hope any other pain in life. Why? Because I do not want to be numb. I don't want to miss out on learning lessons that God has for me. I don't want to be stuck in one place. I want to put on the full armor of God. I want to be able to rejoice in all things.
Philippians 4: 4
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
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