"If this is supposed to help me, why does it hurt so bad?"
What I say: Pain is expected following a major surgery and pain is a normal part of the rehab process. One day you will not hurt like this and you'll be able to do so much more than you could before. You'll be glad you had the surgery.
What I want to say: Why does it hurt? WHY DOES IT HURT???? Well, let me tell you why it hurts. You realize that your surgeon took a scalpel, a really sharp scalpel, and cut through your tissues all the way down to your knee joint. Then he took a saw- A SAW! and he literally cut off the parts of your knee that were damaged. You know what he did next? He took an instrument that looks an awful lot like a hammer and he hit the new knee component hard and repeatedly driving it deep into the core of your bones so that it would fit seamlessly. Then he bent and straightened your knee excessively to ensure you had the motion necessary to regain your full mobility and to be sure everything was tracking well. Finally, he took the likes of a staple gun and stapled everything back together. If you can't understand why your knee might be painful right now, then I don't think I can give you the kind of help you need.
Thankfully, before I let all the whining about their pain get me to the point of eruption, I remember it's not the patient's fault, really.
Patients often don't really know what they're signing up for. They just know that they hurt. That they can't do what they want to do. They're weary. They've hung all their hope on this surgery freeing them from the limitations of the damaged knee. They worry the pain means there will be no reward. They wonder if it was a mistake to trust their surgeon. Maybe this pain would last forever. More often than not, they're not trying to be a complainer, they just don't know any better.
Me on the other hand? I know better.
I know I am broken. I know there are parts of me that are damaged, infected and festering, or dead. I know that I need the Great Physician to cut off the old dysfunctional parts and make me new. I am not a surgeon and I don't know how bad the damage is. He is the only one who knows what I need to get rid of the junk that binds me up and what it will take to give me the abundant life.
This is a surgery I have signed up for, because this is a surgery I know I need. It's an elective surgery.
I need my Healer to pick up a sharp scalpel with His ever loving hand and carefully cut into me.
And it hurts.
When I'm cut open, my sin and ugly brokenness is exposed for the world to see.
And it hurts.
He points out the area that needs to be removed. The evidence of the decay is suddenly painfully obvious to me. I begin the process of letting go of something that, deadly as it might be, I've long fondly considered it a part of what makes me, me.
And it hurts.
He cuts it off- ridding me of that bondage. I now face the reality of life without that dysfunction.
And it hurts.
He begins the work of implanting in me NEW life. One hit at a time. He continues to carefully and with GOOD intention deliver the blows that drive the new, pure life deeper and deeper into my core. Until it fits seamlessly.
And it hurts.
He bends me and straightens me until He is confident that I am wearing the newness well and that it will provide for me the benefits that He intended it to provide for me.
And it hurts.
He closes the wound. He brings about healing.
And it hurts.
"For He wounds, but He also binds up; He injures, but His hands also heal." Job 5:18
To all my hurting brothers and sisters, TRUST HIS WOUNDS!
He is the GREAT Physician. His wounds are never haphazard or without purpose. The result of His wounds is deliverance from a life hindered by brokenness and marred by imperfections. The result is abundant living. Freedom!
Deliverance isn't without pain.
When a woman goes through the stages of labor, there is real pain involved. Am I right moms?? You don't just walk into the hospital pregnant and walk out holding your bundle of joy without going through the painful process of delivery. Because of their great love for their child, women suffer the pain of delivery because the reward of holding their baby close is worth it.
The pinnacle of joy is often found on the heels of deep pain.
Trust your Great Physician. Trust His wounds. The pain is worth it.
"Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good." 1 Peter 4:19
If every patient had a clear understanding of the degenerative condition of their knee, the painful nature of surgery/rehab, and were given a guarantee of the final outcome, how much more tolerable would the pain be? The weight of the process dissipates in light of the sure and eternal ending.
"He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" Phil 1:6
The outcome for those who have trusted their lives to the Lord is sure. His promises are sure.
-Oh how this reality should give us the determination to continue the hard work of submitting to His will and following the path He has set us on!
-This truth ought to give us courage to sit in the uncomfortableness of our exposed humanity and bleeding wounds.
-This promise should give us the audacity to believe that our current sufferings can't compare with the glory that is to come!
Yes, we will be wounded. Yes, it's gonna hurt. BUT IT'S WORTH IT!
Trust His wounds.
Besides, we're not the only wounded ones, you know.
"He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53: 3-5
................................. With His wounds, we are healed.
Trust HIS wounds.
Jesus, a perfect, sinless man, suffered greatly. Endured pain. Not because of anything He had done, but because of our sin and brokenness. We wounded Him. And it hurt.
"Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Luke 22:42b
Just like a mother wants to hold her baby close and will go through the pain of delivery for that chance, our heavenly Father wants to hold us close! He wants to deliver us! Because of His great love for us, Jesus submitted His will to the Father and went through the pain required to deliver us. Jesus suffered well and did not escape the pain necessary for deliverance. But rather, He entered into it and endured. But the pain was worth it to deliver us from eternal damnation and to give us true, abundant life.
- Do you find yourself grumbling about the unwanted or inconvenient interruptions to your "regularly scheduled life"?
- Are you hurting? Are you minimizing, avoiding, or numbing the pain that is part of your current story? Are you suffering well?
- Are you expecting the benefits of a new life without being willing to walk through the pain of killing off the old life? In other words, are you gladly sharing in Christ's glory while begrudgingly sharing in Christ's sufferings? 1Peter 4:12
- The scars of His nail pierced hands and feet, the wound on His side. His wounds, for you, were part of God's plan to provide for EVERYTHING you need to have access to freedom in Him. Do you trust His wounds?
This Easter, as you turn your eyes to the great sacrifice that Jesus willingly endured on your behalf, remember this simple and beautiful truth, "By His wounds you have been healed." 1 Peter 2:24
Trust His Wounds. Be healed.
Thaks for sharing this, Jessica! Such a good reminder!
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