Recovery

There have been many times in my life in which I have been hurt and went through some sort of a recovery period. This one is no different. Lets list the events of today shall we:

2:36 AM- wake up due to uncomfortableness. I hear the dryer still running and i get a little disturbed at Ryan because the dryer has been running most of the day. But then I get over that. I go to the potty then back to bed.
9:16 AM- wake up again to take more pain meds. This time I am up for good so I call my woman.
Eric- I Love You
Jess- I Love You Too
10:10 AM- Attempt at a shower, pain
10:30 AM- escape from the shower with minimal damage.
11:45 AM- will be at a doctors office getting a pro's opinion...surgery?
But all in all, I am quite alright. I'm not saying that this doesn't stink. I'm just saying that this being the 5th dislocation, I am more prepared and experienced in what to expect. I'm fine. Really. Plus, I have a lot of work to do over the next couple weeks so I can't slow down.

But back to recovery. I assume that if I don't get the procedure done, I will be in this sling for the next month or so, and I'm okay with that. I really enjoy when people see a man in a sling and somehow it slips their minds that they should NOT touch the arm.

But back to actual recovery. I know that God is working in me in this healing process. I am 100 % sure of that. But what does the world think about God and his role in healing? Last night we talked about the origin and nature of Sin. And after that small group, I spent another 2 hours talking about it with Jess too. Does God want to heal us? I think yes. I'd think that after so many years of us sinning against Him, all we would see of Him is his footprints walking away. But that's not the case. God still loves us regardless of what we've done, who we've hurt, and what we've said about Him. Its absolutely remarkable and unthinkable. We have done nothing but sin against this God our entire lives, yet He still loves us. Imagine your closest friend yelling at you daily, stealing your most valued possessions and flaunting them in your face, even telling others that they hate you and worse, tells everyone that they don't even know you, denies that you exist. This is what our God receives from His people on a daily basis. Yet He still loves us.

My recovery is going to take some time. It will include a sling, lots and lots of rest, medicine regularly, and maybe even surgery, and even then my shoulder will never be fully recovered due to the amount of times this has happened already. I will live the rest of my days with 2 shoulders that will nag me with pain and will be a source of discomfort. Each time i turn the wrong way and my face grimaces, I will be reminded of my imperfectness and my inability to be new, to be without pain. However, way more important than my shoulders healing is the problem with my soul.

My sin has been my source of pain, my discomfort. Sin has been my constant reminder of my imperfectness. Sin leaves me crippled. It is way worse than a bad set of shoulders. It is eternal. My recovery has nothing to do with a doctor's appointment, medicine, or surgery. My recovery is solely dependent on God. See, my sin took my relationship with God and split us up. And the only thing to bring us back together, to recover this relationship, is a sacrifice. In the same way, Adam and Eve felt ashamed of their nakedness and God sacrificed an animal in order to clothe them (Genesis 3:21) as they were being separated from God. The sin separated them from God, but God still made a sacrifice to show that He never stopped loving them. For me, I missed the mark of God and have fallen short of Him and that separated me from God. But He made another sacrifice for me. He sent Jesus, His Son, to be that sacrifice, to not only let me know that He will never stop loving me, but so that if I accept that sacrifice for me, I will be able to once again walk with Him in the cool of the day, that I will be made new in Him. That I will be fully recovered.