Do You Feel Like You’re Limping Through Life?
Wanna know something kind of interesting about me? I broke my right ankle 5 years ago when I fell off the back of a moving van. Then, late last year I also sprained my ATF ligament in that same ankle when I fell working out. My doctor told me something that I have been thinking about ever since. She said, “A bad break/sprain weakens your ankle and tends to cause even more sprains and injuries.”
It turns out that both of those injuries, even though they happened years apart, are connected. Ever since that first break, I have probably been walking differently to compensate for the weakness in my ankle… and that’s most likely why I keep hurting it. (Literally, sometimes my ankle will randomly twist while I am walking and cause me to fall down.) So I have to go to physical therapy where they will “fix my gait.”
Not being able to be as active has given me more time to think, and God has shown me something through all of this. If not healing properly from physical injuries can be this bad, what do improperly healed wounds look like spiritually, emotionally, and mentally? In what other ways can our “gait” be broken?
I can think back on tough seasons in my life, and the emotional wounds I was dealing with changed the way I “walked” too. I became a frazzled, stressed, & ashamed version of myself. And well, now I’m wondering - in some ways, do I still have a “wounded walk” years after the wound? Is there still a hint of it there? Are there ways that I haven’t healed all the way, but just learned to compensate? I honestly consider myself a happy, healthy person, but this has me wondering if I have settled for 70% healed instead of the 100% healing God wants for me. Do you get what I mean here? I don’t want to walk through life with a limp… in any way.
“He gives strength to the weary, and to him who has no might He increases power. Even youths grow weary and tired, and vigorous young men stumble badly, but those who wait for the Lord[who expect, look for, and hope in Him] will gain new strength and renew their power; they will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not grow tired.”
- Isaiah 40:29-31 AMP
So, while I’m currently training my ankle to be a proper ankle again, I’ve also been asking God to train the rest of me. To correct my gait, inwardly too. I’m sharing this for anyone else who feels like they are limping through life sometimes. Wounds, when not COMPLETELY mended, will lead to more wounds. You have a Heavenly Father who wants to make you whole.
