Friday, October 15, 2010

WRESTLING


I don't know why having my foot in a cast kept me away from writing. (I don't write with my toes). The lack of good sleep, and a schedule that was involved in a mighty game of "Fruit Basket Turn Over," probably had something to do with it.

If you noticed the title of this post, don't be concerned. I didn't break my big toe in a wrestling match. Unless you count wrestling with a rug while walking around barefoot.

Needless to say, the rug won.

And don't believe people when they say that doctors don't do anything for broken toes. That may be true for the little ones, but when it's the big one, they consider it a critical weight-bearing bone, and they treat it like a broken bone in the foot.

I'm out of the cast, able to wear shoes, and by the end of the month, I can return to the gym.

I was very thankful that I could walk while my toe was healing, although I walked with a terrible limp.

As I limped around the house, around the grocery store, and into church and my Bible studies, I couldn't help but think about Jacob.

Jacob was a wrestler that was left with a limp.

"But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw he couldn't get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob's hip out of joint.

The man said, "Let me go, it's daybreak."

Jacob said, "I'm not letting you go 'til you bless me."

The man said, "What's your name?"

He answered, "Jacob."


The man said, "But no longer. Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it's Israel (God Wrestler); you've wrestled with God and you've come through."

Jacob asked, "What is your name?"

The man said, "Why do you want to know my name?" And then, right then and there, He blessed him.

Jacob named the place Peniel (God's Face) because he said, "I saw God face-to-face and lived to tell the story!" The sun came up as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip." (from Chapter 32 of The Message Bible)

I'm a wrestler. I think I was born a wrestler.

And, I have many "limps" to show for it.

I'm amazed that God's great love for me would keep Him in the fight. With anything less than His perfect love, I'm sure He would definitely have given up and walked away.

He always holds me tight. He holds me tight even when I want to run away.

When Seth was about two and a half, he and Jim made a trip to the hardware store. Seth had this terrible habit of throwing his head backwards when he was upset and throwing a fit. That day in the hardware store he wanted to go one way, a way Jim thought was dangerous. When Jim wouldn't let go of Seth's hand, he started to throw his head backward toward the hard, concrete floor. Jim instinctively held on tighter to Seth's hand to keep him from hitting his head on the floor.

Seth's head didn't hit the floor, but in his dad's rescuing attempt, Seth's little wrist became dislocated.



Of course, we rushed him to the pediatrician, where by then his wrist was back in place and everything was fine. But for days, Seth would point to his wrist and say, "Daddy "dooed" it. Daddy "dooed" it."

It was true. His daddy had "dooed" it. And, Jim had "dooed" it for Seth's own good. He "dooed" it out of his love for Seth.

"Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." Psalm 37:24

I can point to my limps and say, "My Daddy "dooed" it." But most of my limps I did to myself.

Even in those, "limps" that came because of rebellion, selfishness and good old stupidity, I know that My Daddy allowed them. That He allowed them for my good. That He allowed them out of His love for me.

The first thing I tell people about myself on the sidebar of this blog, is that I've spent most of my life running away from God.

One of the greatest blessings of going through life with my limps is that I can no longer run away from God.

Oh, believe me, there are times when I try. Times when the old self wants to run. It's just I can't get far away. Not with my limps.

My limps are the very things that keep me close to My Father. That keeps me close to My God.

As the old hymn, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" says . . .

Let Thy goodness like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave The God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

That's what God did for Jacob when he touched his hip and left him with a limp.

And, that's what God has done for me.

He's taken all my limps, all my scars, all my brokenness . . . and He has used them to bind me closely to Him.

And, that is a wonderful, wonderful place to be.



2 comments:

  1. I that verse of that song. It is just about my theme song. Enjoyed the blog. God Bless you, Jim, Seth and Ethan. LOVE YOU ALL

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  2. Cheri,

    I'm so glad you are back! I've missed you, and wondered how you are. I'm so sorry about the broken toe. I had one once, and it was much more painful than I could have imagined.

    I hate that that happened to you, but am grateful that you allowed God to use yet another painful circumstance for His glory.

    We are all limping our way to Heaven.

    Love, Kim

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