So, there is one major reason why I chose to write about recovery. That is because I was in the hospital yesterday receiving 8 stitches and a tetanus shot. I had to get stitches because I was in a head to head collision with someone as I was playing basketball. For the queasy readers, I will spare the details, but it was pretty gruesome. As I was laying in the bed after receiving the stitches, the doctor informed me that I would not be able to do any physical activity (aka no basketball) for AT LEAST two weeks. This news had me distraught because I want to be healthy and I like playing basketball a lot. But it also hit me that it is okay to be in a “recovery process” spiritually.
Then I asked myself “What does it mean to be in a spiritual recovery process?” I think it means that we need to take time away from our daily routine to just get alone and let God heal us from the inside out. It all starts with our heart. From our heart comes our motives and feelings. That is why asking God to change our heart to be like His is such a powerful prayer. While in recovery, physically speaking, we have to do rehab on the body part that was injured. When it comes to facial injuries, it is hard to do rehab, so you have to let it heal. It is the same case spiritually, we need time and God to let us heal from negatively impacting situations in our lives. There is purpose in our pain. There is reason for recovery.
The goal of recovery is so that our bodies can be stronger than before the injury. The same case goes for our walk with Christ. Negative life circumstances are designed for us to see two things… 1.) How big our healing God is. And 2.) How strong He has made us to be with His power inside of us (Luke 10:19). This scripture explains how Jesus has given us power and authority to overcome the power of the enemy. So physically speaking, we have the power to recover from injury. The path is hard, and the pain is extremely uncomfortable, but we come out stronger because of the pain.
With the cuts, come the scars. I already know I will have a very good looking scar on my face, but to me, it will show to be a story of what I went through. That is very true for our emotional scars. They should not been as visuals to have pity over, but rather stories over triumph of what we have been through. Our scars are a testament to our victory. Romans says, “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). For anyone reading this, there is a powerful story behind your scars, so do not hide them. Show off how good God has been even through the recovery.
Much Love,
Ryan W.
