A  Pulled Muscle

      I have no idea what happened. I have been running, but I didn’t get hurt while doing that. I have also been working out lately, but I didn’t get hurt doing that either. I don’t know what I did that caused it. I was simply sitting at my desk, responding to e-mails, when suddenly something pulled in my right leg. From that moment on, anytime I lifted my leg piercing pain shot through it.

      You would be amazed at how many things we do in a day that requires lifting our legs. Walking was ok, as long as I could pull my leg limply along. Stairs, almost out of the question. Every time I wanted to push my rolling desk chair, guess which muscle did that job. I had to have Marita take my socks off. The absolute worst was getting in and out of the car. What really shocked me was I couldn’t even get into bed without excruciating pain (though I did figure out a way).

      Maybe I am just a wimp with a low tolerance for pain. I don’t know. However, I am grateful that it only lasted for about two days. I am fine now.

      This whole situation gave me a new insight into Acts 17:28.

      “In Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

      Most of the time, I walk around without giving it a second thought. Why can I do that? Because I am young and strong. I am on top of the world and nothing can keep me down. Whose help do I need to keep moving?

      The reality is all it takes to be incapacitated is a few pulled muscles, perhaps a slipped or bulging disk or maybe even a searing headache.

      According to Psalm 139:14, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are an amazing piece of work. But we are God’s amazing craftsmanship. Not only did He create us. He sustains us. At any moment God can remove His hand from our lives and it can all come crashing down.

      Don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that God pulled that muscle to teach me a lesson. I am simply saying that I am not the one who keeps this body working. The bones, the muscles, the organs all work because God made them to work. They continue moving because God provides them with the strength to do so. I can’t do any of that on my own. I need God’s help.

      Without God’s hand, we can do nothing. As Paul said, it is through God that we live and move and exist.

      Here is the takeaway from all of this: Have you thanked God because you can move today? Because you can breathe today? It really wouldn’t take much and all of that could stop. Thank God for making you and sustaining you.

Edwin L. Crozier