I mentioned doing a series of posts about lessons I’ve learned in the past eight months (since I became a chiropractic patient). This post is the first of three.
My recent trip to the ER was a blessing in disguise because it led to a friend calling me last week, which led to God driving home a BIG lesson: I have been robbing my brothers and sisters.
I’ve been very hush-hush about the struggles with pain I have had recently with my chiropractic journey. I know the reasons why, but I won’t go into all of them here. You don’t have time to read a novel. I’ll just boil it down and say pride and fear of what people will think are at the root.
So last Wednesday my friend Amanda (from Sunday School) called and asked how I was feeling. I opened up, took off the mask, and shared with her my doubts, fears, frustrations, beliefs, and hopes. She listened. She shared some of her own personal struggles. We prayed for each other over the phone. She ministered to me big time. (Amanda said a couple things in her prayer that brought two major breakthroughs–more on that in the next post.)
My willingness to share my true thoughts and feelings allowed my friend to help me. And in return I helped her. When I refuse to reveal the difficult stuff in my life, I rob my brothers and sisters of the opportunity to minister to me. I prevent them from using their gifts and fulfilling their purpose.
Most of the time I am a self-sufficient, I’ll-handle-this-myself-thank-you-very-much kind of person. I don’t want to burden others with my problems. But that 45-minute phone call proved to me that we are not made to handle things alone. We are made to lean on each other. I don’t want to steal the joy that a friend could experience from helping me or my family.
I am asking God to humble me and give me a willing heart to accept help. By His grace, I will choose to be real and allow others to walk alongside me, sharing the burden.
