By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
If you haven’t already, I recommend reading my devotion “A Blessing in Disguise” . It’s the true story of how God used a difficult situation in my life to bring about greater healing. I just love how God uses everyday life to teach us deeper spiritual principles.
Along this healing journey, God’s been revealing some important truths I need to apply to other areas of my life too. The most recent truth is the often-quoted principle, change takes time. Sounds almost cliché to say, doesn’t it? Yet, when we are in the middle of making adjustments (chiropractic or otherwise), it’s hard to wait for things to reach our desired outcome.
Patience doesn’t come naturally to me. As a matter of fact, God has had to teach me lessons involving patience, time and time again. My recent healing journey is just one of them.
Although my initial visit to the chiropractor was because of dislocated ribs, what caused my ribs to dislocate in the first place was the result of severe misalignment from past trauma. The chiropractor talked about the importance of not only treating my ribs, but also addressing the root issue, taking time to adjust my body where it needed to be. Since my spine, neck, and pelvis had been out of alignment for a long time, it would take a while to get things straightened out. (No pun intended.)
I was going for adjustments every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for a total of three months. Each time I got down from the adjustment table, I felt like a million bucks. I’m serious; I was pain-free. I felt like I could conquer the world.
However, by the time I came back for my next visit, the pain was back, but to a lesser degree. Once people heard I was seeing a chiropractor, they made comments like, “Once you start going, you’ll have to keep going back.”
While that is somewhat true (at least for a little while); there is a reason why. Once your spine is out of alignment, your body makes adjustments to cope and compensate. After an injury, muscles and tendons move to help support the frame, protecting your body from further injury.
While undergoing treatment through a chiropractor, the muscles and tendons supporting your misaligned bone structure need time to adjust to the proper alignment. It’s a process that takes time. And it takes continuous correction until the coinciding support structure stays in place.
As I was thinking this through the other day, God showed me how this principle applies to our everyday lives too. We might want to change something in our lives but find resistance along the way.
For example:
- If we want to change unwelcome behaviors or responses, we will need to practice doing things differently again and again, forming new habits that will support the desired outcome.
- If we want to change our financial situation, we will need to change our spending habits day after day. It might require us to change where we go, who we hang out with, and what we do.
- If we are struggling in a relationship, we may need to change how we respond to that person. I’ve heard it said: Our response is our responsibility, and their response is their responsibility. Changing how we interact with others takes time. Habits are hard to break, especially when emotions are involved.
- If we want to grow spiritually, we might need to change our daily practices. Maybe we need to change the time we get up in the morning to allow more time to pray and get into God’s Word. Or we maybe need to watch less television or spend less time on social media.
Friends, where there is a will to change, there is a way to change. It just takes time. We need to get to the root of the issue in order to impact lasting change. God will help us get there, but like my experience with the chiropractor, we will need to go to Jehovah Rapha for help, asking Him to adjust and realign us, again and again. Getting aligned with God today, protects us from further pain down the road.
Don’t give up! Change takes time.
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self… to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24).
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here” (2 Corinthians 5:17)!
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