The Process of Healing
I had my second round of injections in my back yesterday.
To prepare me, the nurse put in an IV. It took her a couple of tries since my veins are so small.
And even though they now inject a little lidocaine to numb the area where the IV needle goes in, invariably it hurts.
Good thing I'm pretty stoic when it comes to pain.
The door was open to the surgery room, so I spent the next half hour watching the surgery nurse get prepared for my procedure.
Fascinating.
She lined up three small stainless steel tables. The sight of them made my toes tingle with apprehension.
Next, she opened three plastic bags each containing a disposable gray-blue blanket. These were placed over the three tables.
Then she opened scads of plastic-covered disposable needles and dropped them, untouched—yes, I was looking to make sure she didn't handle them—onto the tables.
A few minutes later, they came out and escorted me to the table and told me to lie facedown with my head on one pillow, stomach on another pillow and the last one just below my knees.
"Okay," the surgery nurse said, "here comes the sedation." She injected a clear fluid into my IV line. "And here's the painkiller."
My lips turned numb, my head swam. Next thing I knew, my face was scrunched into my pillow.
In spite of the painkiller, those needles hurt.
Please God, make these shots count, I prayed silently.
I'm going through a lot of pain to get rid of pain.
It's seldom pleasant to improve one's condition:
Healing from emotional or spiritual wounds follows that same path as healing from physical hurts:
It's easier to do nothing,
or point blame or bitterness at others,
or compare yourself favorably with someone who's much worse off than you are.
But none of these three inactions draws you or I closer to Christ.
We must be willing to experience a little pain and inconvenience for a time...
so that Jesus can claim more and more of us.
(and He won't leave you alone in this quest for wholeness. He'll empower you!)
Perhaps you'd like to read the entire 12th chapter of Hebrews.
Here are verses 12 and 13 of that chapter:
"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."
I had my second round of injections in my back yesterday.
To prepare me, the nurse put in an IV. It took her a couple of tries since my veins are so small.
And even though they now inject a little lidocaine to numb the area where the IV needle goes in, invariably it hurts.
Good thing I'm pretty stoic when it comes to pain.
The door was open to the surgery room, so I spent the next half hour watching the surgery nurse get prepared for my procedure.
Fascinating.
She lined up three small stainless steel tables. The sight of them made my toes tingle with apprehension.
Next, she opened three plastic bags each containing a disposable gray-blue blanket. These were placed over the three tables.
Then she opened scads of plastic-covered disposable needles and dropped them, untouched—yes, I was looking to make sure she didn't handle them—onto the tables.
A few minutes later, they came out and escorted me to the table and told me to lie facedown with my head on one pillow, stomach on another pillow and the last one just below my knees.
"Okay," the surgery nurse said, "here comes the sedation." She injected a clear fluid into my IV line. "And here's the painkiller."
My lips turned numb, my head swam. Next thing I knew, my face was scrunched into my pillow.
In spite of the painkiller, those needles hurt.
Please God, make these shots count, I prayed silently.
I'm going through a lot of pain to get rid of pain.
It's seldom pleasant to improve one's condition:
- Getting physically strong after being weak requires a willingness to challenge our bodies
- Losing weight takes discipline, planning and re-training
- Learning requires time, focus, discipline and practice
- Healing from an injury almost always requires a painful surgery, or painful physical therapy
Healing from emotional or spiritual wounds follows that same path as healing from physical hurts:
- You have to recognize the need to get better
- You have to desire to get better
- You have to start searching for appropriate healing therapies
- You have to listen to an expert who can tell you what steps to take toward healing
- You have to do what you've been told even when it hurts or takes longer than expected
- You have to persevere
- After your healing, you bless others by helping them find their own healing.
It's easier to do nothing,
or point blame or bitterness at others,
or compare yourself favorably with someone who's much worse off than you are.
But none of these three inactions draws you or I closer to Christ.
We must be willing to experience a little pain and inconvenience for a time...
so that Jesus can claim more and more of us.
(and He won't leave you alone in this quest for wholeness. He'll empower you!)
Perhaps you'd like to read the entire 12th chapter of Hebrews.
Here are verses 12 and 13 of that chapter:
"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."
Oh, Dena, I'm sorry you're going through so much pain. I hope the injections helped.
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