Physiotherapy and the Psalms

Psalm 27:14 (NKJV)                                                    Psalm 31:24 (NKJV)

‘Wait on the Lord;                                                        'Be of good courage,

Be of good courage,                                                    And He shall strengthen your heart,

And He shall strengthen your heart.’                           All you who hope in the Lord.'

They are Insta worthy verses are they not? These are verses from the Psalms that I’ve read in the past week. They’re the kind of verses that you might read on the Bible app and share on Facebook having superimposed the words on a scenic background of snow-capped mountains. They are good words to share and they were certainly words that I paid attention to when I read them, all the more so when they were repeated on different days.

They are words to write down, to speak out loud, to remember and repeat. Life is anything but easy and these words are in the Bible for us to have when we need them.

They are solid words of encouragement.

But

I have a confession.

Even as I was reading them and writing them and repeating them, there was still a part of me whispering questions. The kind of questions that can make the room go awkwardly silent in Bible study group, the kind of questions that you try to push away because they make things more complicated instead of easier.

How do I be of good courage?

What am I supposed to do to make myself courageous?

How is God going to strengthen my heart?

Why don’t I feel brave and why don’t I feel strong even though I’ve read the Bible and prayed?

Shush that girl in the room with the awkward questions!

Meanwhile...

there is a clatter of bamboo on my phone with a text from my physiotherapist.

It’s appointment time.

I’ve had a sore neck for ages. It bothers me quite a lot. Sometimes it feels as if my neck isn’t going to do its job of holding my head up. Just so you know, if you sit behind me in church and tap me on the left shoulder for a conversation, please don’t be offended when I don’t turn around, my neck doesn’t like it.

Nor does it like physiotherapy - not that I expected it to be pleasant.

Basically, your practitioner pushes gently but firmly and repeatedly on the sore areas. They lean into your pain, putting pressure on it, working the muscles and joints that are inhibited. You have to stretch what doesn’t want to be stretched in order to extend the range of movement. You have to move into the pain as far as you can. You have to let the physiotherapist do the work even though it’s at the very least uncomfortable.

It’s a slow, time consuming process and it hurts a bit or a lot depending on your injury or disability but the aim is of course restoration, both of movement and function. The exercises will strengthen the weak areas and help to reduce injury in the future.

There is both purpose and hope in the process.

When you put yourself in the hands of a professional, you can begin to let go and lean into the pain. When you trust in the expertise, knowledge and experience of the one doing the therapy, you can have courage. And if like me, your physiotherapist is also a friend, then you have all the more reason to trust their advice.

I find my questions beginning to be answered.

When God doesn’t simply remove our pain when we ask him to, it isn’t because he callously leaves us to endure. He has not left us but in fact his hand may be gently and firmly pressing on the hurt. Courage comes when we trust him. Courage comes when we rely on the promise that he loves us and does not abandon us but is working for our good. He is strengthening us where we are weak. It hurts but he knows what he is doing. Our hearts will be stronger in the end if we let him lean into the painful and tender areas, secure in the knowledge that we are in safe and capable hands.

There is no quick fix, no short cut to a pain free life but courage can be found when we simply allow Jesus to do the work that only he can do. It will take time and it will hurt and the process will have to be repeated over and over but restoration will come.

I will still wake up in the morning and not feel terribly courageous. My neck will still be stiff and sore. My fears and anxieties will not have disappeared.

My physio friend tells me there are more exercises to come and I’m probably not going to like them but maybe I’m a little closer to that being OK.

Maybe I’m a little closer to being of good courage.

Maybe my heart is beginning to be a little stronger.

I hope.