The Great Physician

For the past several days I have been incapacitated with a sore back. When your back hurts, it affects every other inch of your body - there is no way to compensate or change the way you move because your back is connected to everything else.

The only answer is to become immobile. I lived in the recliner for three days, even sleeping there one night. When I finally got to the doctor's office, he couldn't even touch my back because the pain was so intense. The pain killers and muscles relaxers finally did their job and I have pretty good range of motion again.

While the medication did its job and the heating pad helped, the real healing came from the Great Physician. I know that there were many people praying for me and I spent much of my on-my-back time in prayer. The only reason my pain went away was because God removed it from me.

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. Jeremiah 17:14

I honestly believe that sometimes God knocks us off our feet on purpose. We need to slow down, be quiet and listen so we can fully comprehend what He is trying to say. There are times when we move so quickly through life that we take no time to hear God's instruction. So if a little pain will stop us in our tracks and get our attention, that's the tool He will use.

Medicine can mask or dull the pain in our body. Exercise can strengthen it and prevent injury. Eating right can grow us and give us energy for the day. But the Lord has complete control over the health, sickness, weakness and strength of our human vessel.

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Luke 4:18-19

And the true joy of the truth: Jesus Christ came to earth not just to heal bodies, but to heal hearts. We read account after account of how He healed the lame, the blind and the dumb. But the healing of the body was always the path to healing the soul. Those who were healed physically were always healed spiritually as well.

During those days I couldn't move, I found myself drawn to the Scriptures. I spent my time reading, studying and writing - things I probably wouldn't have spent as much time at had I not been so sore. These were precious moments that I was given by my Lord for His glory. And they gave me the desire to read more and learn more, even now that I'm up and around again.

God may not choose to take away my pain the next time. His plan may be for me to have a physical hindrance like Jacob's limp. But there can still be joy in our hearts and we can still be in the perfect will of God regardless of our physical condition. The Great Physician will do as He pleases, because it is always for our greater good. Look beyond the physical and see what work He is doing in your heart.

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