Setbacks and Other Fun Stuff

Have you ever experienced a breakthrough that led you to have such joy and relief that it almost made you forget about the original problem? It's an awesome feeling! It's like the object that has been so prominent in the forefront of the picture of your life, fades into the background. I have experienced this recently with a breakthrough in my chronic pain. All of a sudden the past two years of pain drifted away to the recesses of my mind as I experienced a few days where the pain was essentially gone. Ever heard the phrase, "I got a new lease on life?" Well, I did, and I liked the terms of this lease way more!

The new treatments being used by my chiropractor and the acupuncturist seemed to be alleviating the pain cycle that was locked into my lower back. How do you spell relief? RELIEF! I started to move more freely and without pain. Made it 'til the end of the day and didn't need any medication. Hmmmm. Thinking I could get to like this! Even did some things around the house that I haven't been able to do for ages. And then it happened. The 'process' kicked in.

I went back to the chiropractor for another treatment with the new technique and this time he used instruments to do soft-tissue manipulation -- the "Graston Technique." Short-term pain for long term gain. That's the new slogan. He literally digs into the erector muscles in my lower back to break down the tissue damage and cause it to re-grow in a healthy manner. Result - pain again. Sigh. But that brief window of relief made me more able to accept this pain. The process is taking place. The tissues are breaking free of the scar tissue which formed during the past two years in response to being locked up with pain. The tissue needs to breakdown, re-grow and heal in the proper place.

Don't you hate process?! And even more - correction? Yet what if we need a strategic intervention in order to get to the root of the problem -- to assess the broken down junk in our life, to break it down further so it can be gotten rid of. To push through the process in order to bring correction and to allow healing to break forth? Ahhh, sweet process! It is there that I am reminded of my deep and unrelenting need for God! HE is my Source and my Refuge. 'They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and never faint,' Isaiah 40:31. I take courage from Philippians 4:12-13, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation...I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."