Saturday, September 10, 2011

Perpetual Thorn


Day 32, September 9, 2011

I have now had a crick in my neck for 4 long days.  Each day when I wake up, I struggle to get out of bed due to the radiating pain that starts in my neck and shoots down my left shoulder blade.  It is hard for the crick to heal when I am bouncing around on a tractor and mower.  It definitely won’t heal when I am lying in awkward positions to install shelves and do maintenance on the mower.  So I try to manage the pain each day hoping that I will be able to leave it alone long enough to allow it to heal and finally go away.

I have found that I do the same thing with sin sometimes.  There are times that I have had a sin that is plaguing my life constantly causing me pain and struggle in my daily walk.  Though I desperately want it to go away, I continue to live my life in a way that perpetuates the sin.  If I don’t take the time to give my sin to the Lord, fill my heart with His Word, and avoid all interaction with the sin, can it truly heal?   Sometimes we are so busy with our daily life that we will learn how to manage and live with the thorns we have in our lives instead of dealing with them. 

If you have something in your life that is hurting you, your spouse, your friends, your family, your work, your walk, the list can continue on and on, please lay it down at the feet of Jesus today.  He will gladly take your burden, forgive your sin, release your pain if you will only let it go and allow Him to heal it.  Sometimes we struggle with letting the pain go because of a deeper problem the pain is masking.  You will never be healed if you continue to do things that keep the pain alive in your life each day. 

I plan on taking this weekend easy, hoping that I can start work on Monday pain free and fully able to do my job.   Though I know that the pain will go away soon, I will need to address the real problem to keep it from returning.  You see I have a weak back and a damaged shoulder, which make cricks incredibly easy to get.  If I don’t start doing stretches and exercises to strengthen and heal my back and shoulder soon, I will continue to have this problem.  So if you are experiencing pain today, take the time to figure out why you have it and take the steps to fully heal and vanquish the pain from your life.  I leave you with this verse of encouragement from Psalm 103:2-4, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy.”

Blessings,

Greg

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