LET US BURST FORTH

I blew my knee out playing basketball while at A&M.

I know, you are thinking I didn't know she played ball at A&M.   

Oh yes I did.

Church league.

On a rubber court.

Hence the knee.

Anyway, I walked around on it for a few weeks before we actually had it confirmed that my ACL was torn. You would have thought that having it buckle on me repeatedly as I pushed a buggy around a store would have clued me in but apparently not.

 The great thing about being in a university town is the fact that there are amazing doctors there as well. The doctor who fixed my knee was also the orthopedic doctor for the Aggie football team, and he fixed Bo Jackson's knees. This guy was no slouch.

Fast forward about 16 years, and 2 metal screws in my knee later, you find me trying to jog around my self- made track. A task my knee was not fond of. The first week it swelled up, got stiff behind the kneecap, and was painful to walk on.

As I was jogging, I tried to notice how I was running. What I found out was I wasn't. I was simply letting that leg hit the ground straight, jarring my knee and all the hardware in it. After realizing that, I tried to figure out why? I kinda already new. It was the same problem I have had ever since I had the surgery. I wasn't running like it was fixed. Now, granted, I have NEVER been a great runner, but at least I bent both knees. I wasn't anymore. I was running like I didn't trust the healing that had taken place. Running as if it was still sore from surgery and not completely restored.

So, I have been making a conscious effort when I "run/jog/pick my feet up at a faster gait the a turtle" to be aware of my knee and foot placement. To be sure I am letting it bend. To listen how my foot hits the ground. I am talking to myself throughout the lap- bend your knee, pick up your foot, push off - until I get all the way around. Sounds silly, and honestly, probably looks even worse, but it is working. My knee is not swelling.

I am not lame after the run.

 I feel it getting stronger.

The Lord brought to mind the other day how often we do that as people, how often I do it. We get hurt. Wounded by someone or something or whatever, and instead of believing the healing that has been offered us, we walk around lame. Even as believers, after we have brought it to the Lord, we walk around like we don't trust the work He has done. We aren't quite confident in His restoration of our injury.

Guys, my doctor was great, but we, as followers of Christ, have been healed by the Great Physician. If you are not a follower of Jesus, then you need to know the Great Physician is always taking new patients. He has room for you.

We need to walk this thing out like the healed people we are and can be.

Just like my knee, it may very well take us talking ourselves through it for a bit.

Former things have passed away. I am a new creation.

My sins have been forgiven and I stand before God blameless.

I am redeemed by Christ and nothing can snatch me from Him.

My identity and worth are in Christ Jesus and not in man's opinion of me.

So what if it does?

Talk yourself through it. Who cares if it looks pretty? Who cares if deliberately placing one foot in front of the other looks slow in this Christian race? It is your race to run.

My hope for my knee is that as it gets stronger, the running form will become second nature. It will become my natural response to the movement I put it through and the

pressure I place on my leg.

My prayer for us, for me ...we become stronger runners in this race. Our feet get steady on His solid ground. We listen to the Holy Spirit for our foot placement. Strides taken in our Christian walk get bigger. HE becomes our natural response to the pressures and movements of this worldly existence.

Peeps, we can trust Jesus. We can be healed. We have been healed. Let us act like the whole, healed, redeemed people of Christ we are.

Strengthen the weak hands,
And make firm the feeble knees.
Say to those who are fearful-hearted,
“Be strong, do not fear!
Behold, your God will come with vengeance,
With the recompense of God;
He will come and save you.”

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the dumb sing.
For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness,
And streams in the desert.

Isaiah 35:3-6 (NKJV)