Mar
23
2017
Off Balance
Posted in Faith Leave a comment
I broke a bone in my foot the first week of college.
It would be easy to say it was clumsiness.
However, that was not the case.
It had been raining but even the rain was not the reason.
The reason I broke my foot was because of my shoes.
They were the shoes of choice on many college campuses.
I wanted to have a pair so badly.
I got my wish and a broken foot to show for it.
I wanted a pair of clogs.
They were cute.
They were easy to slip on my feet.
They were right in style.
I did not know at the time that there was such a thing as shoe clogs.
Shoe clogs are closed and have a back instead of remaining open.
I did not know that there were also clogs with a strap across the back to hold them on your feet.
I just knew about the clogs you slipped on; the kind that everyone seemed to wear.
There was even a store near my college campus that sold only clogs.
That was not where I purchased mine, however, since they were more expensive.
I felt like a true college girl in my clogs.
It was as if my clogs were a rite of passage in some strange way.
Then it rained.
Then I was late for class because I went to the wrong classroom.
Then I tried to run down the stairs that had no tread.
Then I fell down the last few steps and immediately felt the pain.
I could still walk on my foot.
I thought that I just sprained it or twisted something.
Since I was a commuter student, the parking lot was far from the classroom building.
I did quite a lot of walking on my foot that day.
It was my left foot, so I was still able to drive home.
When I got home and took off my clog, I could see that my foot was beginning to swell.
I drove myself to the emergency room.
X-rays were immediately taken.
I had a small fracture in the bone on the side of my foot.
I needed a cast.
The doctor gave me a walking cast so that I could still go to my classes.
I was also given crutches and told to stay off that foot for the entire weekend.
My walking cast was not like the surgical boot people wear today.
I was given a plaster cast with a firm rubber piece along the bottom.
That rubber piece was what I actually walked on.
The plaster never touched the ground.
That rubber piece was relatively small.
It made me walk unbalanced, with one leg higher than the other.
After only a short time, my back hurt so much from the new way I had to walk.
I was allowed to park very close to my classrooms while I wore the cast, which was good.
I thought of my broken foot because I still wear clogs occasionally.
However, since that incident in college, I only wear shoe clogs.
They are still so comfortable.
Wearing my clogs brings back so many memories.
It is so easy to get off balanced.
Whether it is a broken foot or a sprained ankle, we are just off kilter a bit.
Being off balanced takes its toll on other areas of our body.
Something that did not hurt before now hurts because our balance is off.
Two things I ask of You, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty or riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:7-9)
Balance.
It is important when we walk.
It is important in how we live.
Balance is important to our faith.
Balance in our prayer life is vital as well.
Do we spend most of our time asking God for things?
Do we ever take the time to simply praise Him?
Are our prayers one sided or do we spend time in listening prayer?
When things are hard, finances are tight, or relationships are strained, we tend to pray.
We call out to God for help, or mercy, or guidance.
God loves us and answers us sometimes differently than we would like or we expect.
However, what happens to our relationship with God when things are going along just fine?
We tend to pray less.
We tend to think of God less.
We tend to assume we can do just fine on our own.
It is in that state of self-sufficiency that we lose our spiritual balance.
We wobble.
We do not walk straight.
We are off kilter.
We are out of balance.
Like my plaster cast, being off balanced is a temporary situation.
I eventually got my cast off after about six weeks.
The Holy Spirit will balance us.
We have to relinquish control and all self-sufficiency in matter of faith.
A balanced prayer life is a conversation.
It is talking to God; it is listening to God as He speaks to us through His Word.
It is needing God in good times and in bad, in prosperity and in want.
It is relying on God in sickness and in health, in joy and in sadness.
My back eventually got used to walking off balanced when I was in my cast.
When my cast came off, my back had to get used to walking correctly again.
We get used to our spiritual life, even when it is off kilter.
The Holy Spirit guides us to find the spiritual balance we need so we learn to walk rightly again.
I enjoy reading your daily messages. I get so much out of how you relate simple experiences of life and how God intervenes. Thank you so much for your inspirational thoughts.