Lately I’ve been learning a lesson in patience (funny how “the more we learn, the less we know!”). My right thumb has now been splinted 24/7 for nearly 28 consecutive days. That is only half-way through a minimum 8 weeks two months required to “compensate” for a ruptured extensor tendon. Torn beyond the repair that surgery might have provided, medical advise suggests simply keeping it immobilized to let scar tissue form and create what is essentially a new “tendon” (in function) that will (hopefully) provide up to 90% of the movement I once took for granted. It is amazing what the human body is capable of doing to compensate for injury.
While old dogs may have difficulty learning new tricks, clearly old thumbs don’t heal as quickly as they once did and while the days on the calendar seem to evaporate like water in a hot skillet the older we get, they don’t when it comes to have a bandaged up thumb. In the world of my right hand the days and weeks are only creeping by. Which is slower the healing or the calendar? I don’t know. What I do know is I wish that the time zone in my left hand would catch up with the rest of the world speeding by!
As with most things in human existence when occurring out of the norm, there is typically close by a lesson waiting to be found . This morning I found one in
Aged doors don’t open easily, do they? Decades of use, abuse, rust and wear make hinges squeak, grind and not easily open. There are occasions when we may even give up on ever even opening the door again. We becoming merely content to stay on the side we are on or perhaps we may seek an alternative way in. But here, at David’s exhortation, there is reason to pull on those old hinges and open the door, again. “Who is this glorious King?”
When I consider patience, I have to be amazed at the patience God has for me as I live in my earthly “temple.” Wholly dedicated to Him sometimes, there are also periods where I allow my hinges to rust and the door simply doesn’t open as easily for Him as it once did. Yet He remains, “The Lord, strong and mighty… the powerful warrior.”
Though it might be a bit more difficult than usual with my injured thumb, I'm learning something about patience and about the Lord and me as well. There is a good reason to grab the latch on the gate of my heart and give a good hard tug. I am confident an open gate is an invitation to meet with the King of glory, strong and mighty! It is there I may find a thumb-full more patience, too.
1 comment:
Christopher,
Thank you so much for this post. I really needed to hear this. I think the hinges on my doors have begun to rust. And I need to work on that before they become too stuck. Thank you friend!
We are going to miss you when your Wednesday night series is over. I think you need to extend your Wednesday night stay by let's say.... a year or two to start! :)
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