Injury

There's a lot of work to be done. I've got plans for the house and property that extend well past next year, with some definite "make-it-or-break-it" goals for this Summer and Fall. A lot of this work is physical stuff: digging, carrying, shoveling. A lot of concrete, some carpentry, and of course, gardening.

But now, the Lord has reminded me that it all depends upon Him. My strength and my health are not really my own. A week and a day ago, I experienced what is probably a cracked rib. Ouch. At this moment, it doesn't hurt, and any pain medications should have worn off. That's good. But last night I was fetching a box from the basement by balancing it together with another one on the same shelf. They tried to fall outward (part of the plan), and I caught one in each arm (also part of the plan), but they were heavier than expected, and it was like cracking that rib all over again (not part of the plan). I couldn't even lie down until long afterward. Boy, does that hurt.

People are injured all the time. I've got some epidermal slices from just this morning! But like most injuries I've had, they will probably heal completely in just a few days. The rib will not. So my well-laid plans and deadlines for this summer are thrown completely upon the mercy of God. That's exactly where they should always be.

God can use our state of health or injury for our good, and He does. Jesus wants us to trust Him above all things, including our own strength. Especially our own strength, even in matters temporal.

In matters eternal, it may (or may not) be easier to realize that everything depends upon God and His gracious work. No matter how hard I try, I can't live a perfect day. I can't even live a perfect hour. I can't even pray properly, without being distracted or rambling or forgetting what should not be forgotten. So in spiritual matters, I find it easier to remember that I need God's help. (But do I usually live as though I need more than God's help? Do I usually realize my total dependency on God? I should.) I thank God that He has redeemed me from my guilt through Jesus' death, and has clothed me in Jesus' righteousness through Baptism, and feeds me with the remission of sins when I receive Jesus' body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar.

Jesus endured physical pain, using it to rescue me from death. Now, He uses my own physical pain to make me mindful of His Word and to keep my priorities in line with reality.

Thanks be to God for His holy cross, and for mine.