Numbness is a gift only for a little while, then is followed by uncontrollable pain…
This is something that I have found true in regards to my recovery with my back, leg and nerve injuries. But I think it applies to most of us in life. When we choose to be “numb” or even apathetic in our relationship with Christ, our spouse, significant other, family, or people who have hurt us, then we are not improving the pain — we are PREVENTING HEALING. Lack of feeling is lack of healing. (I’m sure I’ve heard that somewhere before… I love things that rhyme!)
This week has been a painful struggle for me with my legs… I FEEL them. When you have nerve damage, sometimes your legs are completely numb. And it’s GREAT when they are numb because you can’t feel the pain as much. But I’ve learned that numbness can feel great since there’s no pain, but what comes after the numb stage is TERRIBLE. You can either have no feeling whatsoever — and pretty much have a “dead leg.” OR nerve regrowth could be taking place which causes extreme pain. For me, the pain is so severe that it feels like my skin is on fire at times followed by deep bone pain. Nothing and no person can fix the pain.
This week God has really been teaching me about my own numbness in certain areas of my life, as well as reminding me of what He promises to do…
Revelation 3:15-17 says,
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot.
I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are
lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—
I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
I’ve stated before that I am a believer and follower of Christ, but truth be known, I am not always boiling over with “hotness” for Jesus. I get comfortable. Then usually some event happens in life or I get busy, then I’m frustrated that I have so much to do and not enough time to do it… then frustration with my inability to meet my own expectations is easily followed by impatience with others and then anger comes quickly after that…
It’s easy to become numb. But when we become numb we are only decaying — inviting death to have victory. It reminds me of the story in The Bible from Ezekiel 37 about Dry Bones,
The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”
I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’” So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.
Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.’ Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.’
Wouldn’t you love to actually SEE those bones grow tendons?! I would honestly freak out if I heard rattling bones and then saw skin and stuff growing… but THAT’S how we are. And that’s what GOD can do! We are “Dead in our transgressions and sins ” (Ephesians 2:1).
I associate numbness — lack of feeling — with DEATH. But God breathes His breath of life into us and makes us new. Transgressions are sins. Sin leads to death. Death leads to a grave that no man can come out of.
But God, who breathes His Breath of Life into us will “…open up your graves and bring you up from them…” (Ezekiel 37:12)
Ephesians 2:1-10 says,
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us,God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Part of the healing process is acknowledging the numbness…
Part of the healing process is pushing through the pain and depending Jesus’ Strength.
Part of the healing process is accepting God’s grace.
Whether we have physical, emotional or spiritual numbness… We all need a Savior who can be our strength to the bitter end.
So Believers? If you are numb, it’s time to come out of the shadows and know that the pain is God removing the sin and rebuilding you to be ALIVE in CHRIST.