Ouch

There's something I should let you know. It's not a huge secret, not an earth-tearing revelation, but a truth that I have come to realize ever more profoundly in the past couple of days.

I don't like pain. Pain and I are not now, nor do I anticipate we shall ever be, friends in the most flippant definition of the word. We don't get along.

On Monday I had a surgery to reconstruct some ligaments I tore about four years ago in my right ankle. We were at a friend's house and I stepped off of his front patio the wrong way. A loud "pop" came from my right ankle, said ankle quickly swelling to the size of a baseball, and down I went. At the hospital ER, after x-ray's and an examination, it wasn't broken, thank God. I was handed an ace-wrap, given some mild pain-killing drugs, and sent on my happy way.

In the ensuing months and years, however, after repeatedly spraining that same ankle over and over and over, it was clear there was a problem. Finally, this past Monday, we fixed that problem with a procedure called a "modified Brostöm". The surgeon went in, shaved some bone, and reattached the ligaments that I had ripped apart as well as did some tendon modification, all of this placing my ankle back in the right position and giving it renewed strength.

Now, armed with Tylenol 3 and a cast, I sit here on the couch and share my challenge with you, dear reader. I suppose misery really does love company and you (lucky!) are that company. My lovely wife is pampering me. I am reminded daily how I married up when we wed. The kids are understanding and supportive. And I have to stay on this couch with absolutely no pressure on my foot or ankle for at least three weeks. Full healing should come in 9-12 weeks.

At the risk of sounding cliché, this entire ongoing experience reminds me of some pretty profound spiritual truths. In our current Western culture of Microwave Miracles and McReligion, we have often been taught that, when encountered with a challenge, we can simply call on God and He will instantly fix everything and, hence, we should walk through life with ease and victory.
The Bible, however, shows us a different way. It's not that God can't "instantly" fix us or our problems. He can and sometimes does. Like so many other things in our lives, though, He often wants us to go through a process, a time, however prolonged it may be, of growth, pain, challenge and trial, until final victory is achieved. This process may take a few hours or a few years, it's really dependent on Him. We can be assured, however, regardless of the pain involved, that the journey of pain is for our benefit and for our healing, for God really does love us.

It's time for me to take more Tylenol 3.

Ow.

I'll keep you posted.