Permission to Heal

As you may (or may not know) I recently had surgery on my right elbow to repair a partially torn tendon. The injury was over a year old and had effected every single area of my life. I could not cook, clean, write, or even cozy without pain or fear of further injury. It was awful.

Well, 3 weeks after my procedure I began working on straightening my arm again with the help of physical therapy. I've been holding it in as neutral of a position as possible for a long time and it (my arm) had decided it will simply not allow itself to be straight.

When I did coax it open, the pain was awful. So I decided to talk to my physical therapist about it. All he did was nod his head and say things like, "yep." and "that's normal". Yet the confidence he had changed everything for me.

The simple truth that he knew my surgeon and trusted that the surgery would work (based on the doctors reputation) meant that I could let go of fear and trust in my healing.

OK, it may sound so trivial to you, but I've been hurting for so long I was afraid to trust that the surgery worked. I was misinterpreting the healing pain as injury pain and I wasn't healing.

The day of the "Yep" nod I believed in the doctor and trusted that I would get better.

I now look at the physical therapy as a challenge. Who is going to win? Me or my stiff muscles? That's right me...

Injury and suffering is like that. Not only can it cause agony, it can paralyze our "muscles" into being overprotective, stiff, and ineffective. The good news is that our Master Physician is able to reach into our broken lives and repair a lifetime of damage. All we have to do is trust.

Surgery and healing can be painful. The process is not a cake walk. However, if you are hurting today in anyway I wanted you to know that God can be trusted. He can heal you. Honestly, the second you accept Him he does heal you.
What's left is for you to trust  your Surgeon and to begin using those stiff muscles.

They will respond over time. You can trust, laugh, and lay without fear of re-injury.

Trust me. I know your Doctor. You can trust His work.

If you could see me I'd be nodding my head and saying something profound, like, "Yep."