Ripples Ministry

For the last 10 months I have been in pain. It started out as no big deal. My feet would just hurt at the end of the day. I paid this no mind however. After all, I work 12 hour shifts and spend most of the time on my feet. They are supposed to hurt right?

As the weeks progressed, so did the pain. I am stubborn though and refused to see the doctor. I was sure they would take care of themselves.

Sometimes we deal with our spiritual lives in the same manner. We know things aren’t quite right. Something is missing or we have pain that shouldn’t be there. But time heals all wounds… right?

Wrong.

By the end of the sixth month, the pain was so bad that, after driving home from work, I nearly could not make the walk from my car to the front door. My pride did not want to go to the doctor, but the pain drove me to make an appointment. My entire leg was now hurting and I had trouble walking when I got up in the morning. Even though I had purchased better shoes to remedy the situation, I had not solved my problem.

When I did finally see the doctor, I was sure I had already figured out the root of my problem (part of the reason I had not gone in the first place). I was sure that I had circulation problems in my legs and my feet were dying a little at a time.

Again… wrong!

The Doctor informed me that I had plantar fasciitis. It means that the muscle/tendon in the arch of my foot keeps tearing because of the way I walk and the way my foot is. It is something that happens gradually, but when it gains a hold, the pain is crippling.

How true this is when we are outside of the will of God. We drift away gradually, our walk just outside of where we should be. Then we face pain, but our pride keeps us from dealing with it and we injure ourselves a little more and the wounds reach deeper. Finally we are so outside of the will of God we are spiritual cripples.

My doctor sent me to a specialist, a doctor that specializes in feet. He looked at my feet and told me that I should start by wrapping my feet. But if my feet were ever to heal, I would need orthotics. These were specially-made inserts that would correct the way I walked and would prevent further injury.

His assistant showed me how to wrap my foot. It was so simple I did not think that it would do that much good. My pain was beyond a simple wrap. I followed their advice though. What did I have to lose? I could barely walk as it was.

To my surprise, the wrapping helped and within a week, the pain began to subside. However, it was not gone entirely.

When we come to God broken, The Spirit begins to sooth our hurts as the forgiveness of God washes over us and our souls begin to heal. Asking for forgiveness seems like such a simple thing. How could it possibly help me? You don’t know my pain!

Don’t count out the simple.

Next in my course of treatment was the application of orthotics. These were inserts made especially for me to correct the way that I walked. When I first put them in, I was only able to wear them for a little time. They hurt nearly as bad as the plantar fasciitis that I had been dealing with. I had been warned though. The inserts would change the way I walked and my knees ankles and even hips would hurt for a while as I adjusted to walking correctly. I hated those things! (But I wore them anyway.)

Asking for forgiveness if we are not willing to apply the word of God to our lives is not enough. We will simply to continue to hurt ourselves through sin and compromise and the pain will continue. Romans 12:2 tells us
2- Do not be conformed to this world, but continually be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you may be able to determine what God’s will is—what is proper, pleasing, and perfect. If we cannot honestly say to God “change me“, we will never know the freedom from the wrenching pain of disobedience. Our pride keeps us from wanting to humble ourselves and admit that we do not have all the answers.

If I had taken the same approach to my foot injury, my feet would still be hurting. Thank God I got over myself and my pride and sought help. Is it perfect yet? No. But it is getting better every day.

Perhaps, your life, or things in it, are just not making sense. The pain is so great or the distance from God so far, that it seems impossible to be set free or bridge the gap. Nothing could be farther from the truth. We must first realize that we can’t do it without His help. Then we must come to Him and ask for forgiveness. Finally we must apply the word of God to our lives and ask Him to straighten our walk to keep us from unnecessary pain.

Maybe you have been walking wrong all of your life. You don’t even have a health plan. No worries, God accepts all and His treatment is free. Just turn your life over to Him and you will see healing in your life. That is a promise from God.

I still put in my orthotics every day and my feet are healing. I also open God’s word every day and my walk is getting straighter all the time. Things are not perfect, but I have peace and hope – a hope that you can have as well. Don’t be afraid. Don’t spend another day with your soul in pain. Relief is just a prayer away.

If I can pray for you email me.

Blessings upon blessings

Tim