Healing is Hard, Part II

Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness (Colossians 2:7, NLT).

I’ve dealt with some on and off low back pain for the last number of years. I’ve been fortunate that it’s never kept me down and out for too long, but it’s a nagging problem that tends to come and go as it pleases.

I’m certain you’ve had a similar experience with a physical injury and can relate to what I’m describing. One of the things about physical pain that can be difficult is the ebb and flow of its presentation—we think we’ve gotten the problem figured out only to have a flare-up weeks or months later.

There are so many options for pain management these days: medication, creams, fancy tools we order online, surgery, heating pads, ice packs, and, of course, physical therapy. It can leave us feeling exasperated and frustrated as we try to make the best decisions about how to manage the pain we’re experiencing.

About a month or so ago, I had a very long and busy week of work. By the weekend, my body just wasn’t feeling great. I was tired, achy, and dealing with some of that old, nagging back pain. I rested through the weekend, and on Monday afternoon I asked a co-worker for some help with getting things stretched out.

He and I spent several minutes chatting about my symptoms, how I was feeling, what I had done over the weekend to address the pain, and what I thought he could do to help me. There is a particular stretch he is able to perform on my low back that almost always provides relief.

The more we talked, the more I began to make a connection between choosing what’s easy in the healing process compared to choosing what’s really needed. In my case physically, the quick stretch my co-worker can perform always provides relief, but here’s the kicker: the relief is almost always short-term. Instead, what I know I really need is strength and stability. As we wrapped up our conversation, I found myself reeling, thinking: Oh, Jesus, how true that statement is in my life emotionally and spiritually as well!

When we’re hurting emotionally, just as I was physically in that moment, it’s easy to seek a short-term fix. A few drinks. Watching an inappropriate movie. Connecting emotionally with someone outside your marriage. Binging on too much unhealthy food.

Just like the stretch did for my low back, all of these things will provide some short-term relief, but none of them are actually what we need. Even worse, when we make these choices, we end up stuck in a cycle of behavior that is much harder to break free from than if we had just addressed the root of the pain from the start.

In my particular situation, from a physical and emotional standpoint, it’s easy for me to choose a quick stretch or a quick fix than it is to choose what I really need—a foundation of stability and strength that can only be found when I am rooted in Christ.

Early on when I first began to really dive into and read the Bible, Colossians 2:7 kept popping up and I’m feeling led to share it with you now: Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness (NLT).

I love this verse as it reminds me that when I choose to build my life on the stability and strength found in Christ, I will overflow with all things good. Just as this is true when it comes to spiritual and emotional pain, I have seen first-hand how true this is when it comes to the physical pain I’m experiencing as well.

Does that mean my life will be perfect and I’ll never experience pain or suffering? Absolutely not. But I can know, with certainty, that when I’m working through the healing process and am rooted in the strength and stability of Christ, I will be able to withstand any winds of suffering that come my way.