As the new year begins I find myself once again assessing new goals for the coming 365 days and remember failed ones of the past year, or should I say years. I am not much on new years resolutions but more about fresh starts. Goals have away of instantly making me feel like I have more work and less time. If I have learned anything this past year it has been to trust God daily and accomplish each day with my best foot forward. Which brings me to this truth:
This new year found me with an inability to ignore some very painful legs and feet issues. I have been going to the podiatrist for the past 8 weeks trying to figure out why my legs and feet are in such pain. As my doctor examines my feet and stretches my calves (thankfully I did shave) he begins to tell me about myself by the way I walk. He nailed my person as if he was prophetic. He told me I had a very high pain tolerance and had ignored important pain alerts that my legs and feet were sending out. My ignoring the pain caused me to walk differently, thus creating an even greater problem. As he stretched, poked, pulled and wrapped my tender feet, I was given some very important instructions, He said," This didn't happen over night and it won't heal over night. You have to change the way you walk to undo the years of damage" Then he gave me exercises I had to do.
Well as I am sure you may have made some spiritual connections with this. Just like I have done in the physical, I have had ignored some spiritual hurts of the past years. I am sad to say it had changed my walk. I have had to address places that wounded me deeper than I realized and lay before the great Physician as He stretches me and wraps my wounds. I have had to confess my sin of ignorantly thinking I had dealt with the hurt when in actuality I had only stepped around it. I had to forgive again. Like a shot of cortisone in the bottom of my feet it stung and burned as Christ reached in to the deepest part of my heart and touched a bruise I had been favoring in my spiritual feet. It released a hurt that had burrowed deep in me. I needed a reminder to not side step hurt but to address it with grace and truth. A wound doesn't go away because it is ignored, it goes away because it is healed. I am walking with a limp and a fresh knowledge of grace. My limp now reminds me to forgive quickly, then healing comes quickly. Delayed forgiveness makes for a painful christian walk. Psalm 103;2-3 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases. (NIV) Yes forgiveness and healing work together,
What will this year bring you? Goals to reach? Weight to lose? Studies to read?... Before we add more to our life, be it in spirit or natural, lets look inside and see if we need to remove a few things, You may not need to change anything but the way you walk.
