Recently, we travelled to Arkansas to spend some goodly time with my Chris’ side of the family for a reunion. An odd thing happened to me on the day before we began our long trek home to Colorado. Somehow I bruised the bottom of the pad of my foot under my big toe. It was strange, for even my big and second toe began to swell. So I limped.
We travelled home, and I kept some Bio Freeze on my toes and feet elevated. By the time we got home I was still limping, but my toes had stopped swelling. The malady seemed to move upward. By the following weekend, I had to physically pick up my left leg to move it when getting into the car or laying on our bed. For my knee was now problematic. On Sunday night, our family served at Street Church (which I will write more about next week), and I moved slowly and with a limp.
That night, I woke in the middle of the night. I walked–without problem, at all! The malady seemed to have gone, but my head hurt. I went back to sleep and woke the next morning with a headache and vertigo–got sick to my stomach and felt weak. Then I felt fine, completely and utterly fine. My Chris joked that I had a moving malady.
I cannot say where it came from nor where it went–nor even why it happened. All I know is that my posture during that time affected my walk.
Let me state that again: my posture during that time affected my walk.
It is a true statement that covers ALL areas of our lives. Our posture–be it prideful or broken, hungry for something to fill, need to be right, hurting, insecure or even non-committal and unintentional–affects our walk, sometimes to the point where we cannot walk at all.
Do we surround ourselves with people, who tell us what our itching ears want to hear, so we will feel better? Are we actively listening to and rightly responding to those in our pathway? I’m afraid I have not always responded well–for my sake or for others’. Also, there have been times when I wanted my ego petted more than I wanted healing.
Our generation is one, where we have laid down to the point where we do not respond–inaction– OR we respond harshly and without love. It becomes a bruise beneath our feet–beginning a cycle of unhealthy walking.
Perhaps we even begin to agree with the limp in our walk–this is just who I am. If people can’t accept me this way, then let them walk on. Our limp becomes more and more prevalent, setting more areas of our body out of alignment. Unwilling to change, unwilling to hear, we push away anyone that would/could help us. God’s still small voice goes unheard.
Today I have a few on my heart, who have been limping for while–surrounding themselves with poor counsel, ears shut to wise counsel, acting out in selfishness and with unkind words and I find my heart bursting with sadness over it. So I take a posture of prayer for them and for healing.
For only God can make the crooked straight. Only God can truly heal. And He hears our prayers spoken from a posture of humble trust. He listens and He acts. From that posture comes great power. The oppressed are set free. The broken are mended. The sick are healed. The unwilling are brought low ’til they are willing to learn to walk again. It is in my posture that I speak. In my posture that I proclaim. In my posture that I begin to bring about great change.
Perhaps we need to experience brokenness to walk straight. I do not know. But this I do know, my brokenness has brought me to a place where I can not only walk, but skip and leap and run in grace–for my God has healed me. He has been teaching my unwilling feet to move. He is even teaching me to walk with wisdom–setting boundaries and limits on who may be my counsel. No longer do I long for acceptance, so much as I long for truth. That truth is found, my friends, at the feet of Jesus.
Lord, may I be a godly one, walking not in the counsel of the wicked nor standing in the way of sinners, nor sitting in the seat of scoffers (who am I to mock anyone anyway?), but may my delight be and always be in Your law. Day and night may Your words be what I think upon and feed upon and know in my inmost part. Lord, make me a tree planted by streams of water–bring forth Your fruit in season and may my body not wither in unhealthiness, but with nourishment found in the Son. May I prosper and walk well, Lord. You know my way, Father. Guard my feet from the way of the wicked. Blow them away like chaff. In Jesus’ Name. Amen (Based on Psalm 1)
Humbly,
About Holly
AWESOME! Holly, really awesome!
Now, that’ll preach, my friend. What wise words those are. I’m so thankful God made this crooked-walker straight!!!