By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
“Gerry, help me!” I whispered in desperation. It was 4:00AM, and I was lying in bed, unable to move, unable to speak, in excruciating pain.
I had been battling a respiratory virus for the past several days and was jolted awake with a severe coughing fit. Before I had the chance to sit up and adjust my position, I felt something pop in my chest. I knew something was terribly wrong.
My husband jumped out of bed and hurried to my side. “What happened? What’s wrong?”
After I told him, he helped me up and into the living room. I sat still for a long time, trying to relieve the pain. I knew it was my ribs. I had broken ribs in the past, but this was different. I could feel my ribs moving around in my chest; they made a knocking and clicking sound. It was so loud my husband could hear it. Each time I moved, I felt another wave of intense pain. After the ibuprofen kicked in, I grabbed my iPhone and searched the Internet. According to “Dr. Google,” my symptoms matched that of dislocated ribs. It said a chiropractor could maneuver them back in place.
I found several chiropractors nearby, but one stood out above the others with 5-star reviews. I called as soon as they were open and relayed my plight. The young woman who answered was sympathetic to my condition. “Oh honey!” I know how painful that can be. I’ve dislocated ribs before. We have an opening at 1:45pm today.”
“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion” (Psalm 116:5).
I’m not going to lie; I was a bit apprehensive. I’d never been to a chiropractor before. How would they get them back into place? Surely it would be painful, but what choice did I have? Something had to be done.
When I walked into the office, a wave of peace washed over me. Right there on the wall was a scripture verse along with other quotes of faith. I silently whispered, “God, thank you for getting me to the right place.”
After a thorough examination with tests and scans, it was confirmed that I did, indeed, have dislocated ribs, six of them to be exact. No wonder I was in so much pain.
The chiropractor spent a good amount of time manipulating my ribs back into place. Afterwards, although I was sore, I felt much better than before. The chiropractor explained what had happened. He said I had significant misalignment in my neck, back, and pelvis. The severe coughing, combined with lying on my right side caused my ribs to pop out of place. He said the ribs would take a while to settle in permanently. He was right. They popped out again and again. My course of treatment included three visits a week for a total of 6-8 weeks.
During my follow-up visit the next day, the chiropractor recommended a course of treatment to help correct my misalignment issues. He said it would take some time, but he believed my misalignment was correctable. Since I had been dealing with chronic back pain for decades, the hope of experiencing lasting relief was comforting. At this point we had spent thousands of dollars on doctors, procedures, and physical therapy (with no lasting results). I was grateful to know this doctor was not interested in putting a band aide on the problem. He wanted to get to the root issue and fix it. What a breath of fresh air!
Now, not only are my ribs back to normal, but my other alignment issues are improving too. In fact, my back pain is gone! Completely gone!! Praise God, I feel decades younger, and am able to do things I hadn’t done in years.
Although this experience was difficult to go through, I now see it for what it truly was—a blessing in disguise. If I hadn’t dislocated my ribs, I wouldn’t have gone to a chiropractor, and if I hadn’t gone to a chiropractor, I wouldn’t be free of pain today.
God led me to the place where I could be pain free and fully aligned. This experience has been an important life-lesson. God can, will, and does use our pain and suffering to bring about His good, pleasing, and perfect will (if we let Him).
What God did for me, He will do for you. Let the Lord guide you in those moments of desperation, even when the road ahead looks bumpy. Trust God’s higher ways and watch what He can do.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
Lord, you are so very good. Thank you for leading us to places where you can heal, restore, and make us whole again. Thank you for bringing beauty from our ashes.
Looking for a way to connect with God daily? Check out our daily devotional books: Living in Truth Day by Day *** Living in Truth Mind, Body, Spirit
