A badly twisted ankle, former procrastinators, messed me up a few years ago. A year later I was still favoring that foot to the point of limping. The orthopedist told me, “I don’t feel anything wrong. I don’t see anything wrong on the x-ray. I think you just need to force it.” So, I consciously, very deliberately, forced myself to walk normally though it hurt. In a week, the ankle was fine.
Hebrews 12: 12-13 “Therefore [refers to the benefits of God’s chastening] strengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame many not be dislocated, but rather be healed.”
I’m thinking it’s the same with our clean out here at home. We’re actually lame – don’t function well – because we hold onto too much. We are forcing ourselves to accept the truth that we need to be free of some stuff. Now we need to force ourselves to walk out that realization by donating and throwing away. Make the paths straight. As we do that, we will heal. We’ll learn new bents that are healthier. We’ll run our race better.
It’s alarming to think if we delay the cleanout and continue holding onto excessive books, papers, mementoes, projects that we will actually become “dislocated.” We’ll be worse off than we are now. God, deliver us!
And He will. But look, we’re commanded to strengthen, make straight. To be delivered, we must obey.
Is there a “sore ankle” you favor? Something that you allow to keep you from decluttering or from laying aside some other weight? Maybe you don’t consciously view it that way, yet you act that way. Maybe it’s a heart issue, a long-neglected task, or something else you put off forcing yourself to do. Do you really want to keep limping? There’s a healthier choice.
What “sore ankle” do you need to force into good health by doing the work needed?
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