The pain in my knee grew worse by the week, and soon I could not walk without discomfort. I hobbled along delicately trying to avoid the aching pain. I know I have a meniscus tear in my right knee; I’ve had one in the other knee three years ago. When you visit the doctor, they always ask you, on a scale of 1-10 what would you say your pain is. They don’t tell you what the numbers really mean, but I would assume a 10 is childbirth. At the time, mine was a 5. An x-ray taken, no broken bones. So, it’s “wait and see” if it gets better along with anti-inflammation/anti-pain medicine. Sadly, the pain continues, getting worse by the week and my pain scale number is rising. The MRI confirmed I have a torn meniscus, soon surgery.
People have noticed my obvious limp. I look like old person limping with a gimpy leg, slowly shuffling along. I find myself drifting from feeling sorry for myself to just pushing through the pain with a smile. Isn’t it funny that when unexpected things happen to us, we tend to ask why me? The question is why not you? We are walking through this life in fragile bodies with a pretty good probability of getting hurt.
As Bilbo Baggins said, “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
Stepping out our back door you can’t miss my husband’s shop. It was built to house all sorts of woodworking equipment that he inherited from his Dad. Just like his father, the shop is quite a clutter. The upstairs is “my” storage area and through years of people digging around looking for something, it’s in complete disarray. As soon as I retired, my goal was to purge and whip the shop into shape. In a few months time, we’ve donated five truckloads to charity, but there is more to go. It was January when I noticed pain in my knee. Like many, I still feel like I’m 18, but my body somehow forgets that. As you get older, the reality is, we need to relinquish the carrying of heavy loads to others, otherwise we will be the ones to suffer the physical consequences.
God allows us to go through pain and suffering. However, I would assert, it would be nice for humans to opt out of pain. Even Christians are not exempt from a pain-free life. It is when we are lying on our backs and cannot walk that we are forced to look up and realize God must have a purpose in all this. That purpose is to slow us down and draw us closer to Him.
As a child of God, I know He hears my prayers for relief and healing. God is quite capable and willing to heal us instantly, miracles still happen; but He doesn’t always work that way. Depending on the injury, our bodies can repair themselves, cuts, broken bones; amazing. But there are other ways to be healed…
Medical Healing. Healing can be delivered through doctors, medicine and medical technology. Personally, I am grateful for living in 2021; having access to experienced doctors and high-tech. Just think, over a hundred years ago, the technology wasn’t even available to perform many surgeries. In the 1800s, surgery techniques were rudimentary, even barbaric by today’s standards, as anesthesia was not commonly used. Back then, the likelihood of surviving surgery was greater than the chance of dying during or immediately after surgery. The advent of arthroscopic surgery is actually fairly new (1970s). The last time I had a meniscus tear surgery, it looked like the doctor was playing a video game. There is just a tiny incision in the knee along with using an arthroscope to get a good look at the tear, cutting torn pieces and stitching as needed.
One aspect of seeking medical help is that it gets us involved as active agents of God in our healing process and it provides us with hope. God has a habit of using people, their gifts and talents, and resources to carry out His plans for our healing. We were created to do His work on earth.
God “seems to do nothing of Himself which He can possibly delegate to His creatures”. CS Lewis
Healing in Heaven. For those who do not receive healing, it’s possible God may decide to heal us when we reach heaven’s doors; it is then we will be given a brand new body. For those with incurable conditions, where life-threatening accidents occur, appalling evil has overtaken us, or even our Christian brothers and sisters abroad who are awaiting execution for their faith, remember what Paul said,
“To live is Christ, to die is gain”. Philippians 1:21
Paul would be the one to know.
Prayer. The first thing we should do when we face an illness is to talk with God. He is aware of our hurt and pain my friend. Nothing that happens to you has caught him off-guard. God’s desire is for us to pray, to communicate with Him, to call upon Him. Prayer is sometimes the last thing we do, but it should be the first thing, not Googling for an answer, not calling your family, not posting your medical issues on social media for input. We need to draw closer to God through prayer.
“… call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:15
God’s answer to prayer are always “yes”, “no”, or “wait”. When your prayers are not being answered in the precise manner and timing that you want, consider whether you are trusting God with the answer. He is greater than our problems and though we will all face suffering and death in this world, He has secured our wellness for eternity. You will be healed either on this side of heaven or in heaven.
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21:4
There is one kind of prayer that is guaranteed to be granted, it’s the prayer of repentance. When we call upon the Lord in humble repentance, He is eager to justify and forgive us.
People that ask where God is during an illness, are the same people who refuse to worship and honor Him for years of good health. They disregard God during the good times, but somehow believe God is obligated to step in to provide help in the bad times. Before we charge God with not caring, we must first show our thankfulness for the times when His compassion and healing in our lives have been unmistakable.
But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” John 11:4
Not all illnesses lead to death. Sometimes it is only through pain that we become who God wants us to be. He is always finding ways to build up godly character and some of those ways may not feel so good. Pray that your eyes will be opened to learn the purpose of the sufferings you are walking through. Be thankful and be sure to glorify God when you are healed.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7
If Christians are given a spirit of power, love and a sound mind, then we have no need to fear the outcome. We have what is needed to enjoy a spiritual health that will help us overcome the darkest days of any sickness, illness or disease we may encounter.
Consider that there are four ways of getting hurt in this world: sin, illness, nature and death. As humans, we need someone that can save us from the hurts of this world. Not just temporarily but eternally. That someone is Jesus. Because Jesus overcame, you can overcome too.