I hope that you had a wonderful Easter and enjoyed Resurrection Sunday.  My family had a very good weekend and a very good time of worship.  We had an egg hunt at the church followed by a kids’ sermon and then we had our worship service for everyone at 11:00.  Afterwards, the rest of our family came over to our house for dinner at 4:00.

It was an awesome weekend but I have to say that I was very tired when it was all over.  My body is still very much in the early stages of the recovery mode and going back to work full time last week was harder than I thought it was going to be.  The muscles in my middle and upper back are continuing to experience stiffness and muscle spasms.  It seems like it has been getting progressively worse every night during the last week as I have been waking up earlier and earlier every morning from the cramps and pain.  What started out as a 4:00 am wake up call has now become a “not so gentle rap on the door” at 2:30 am.  The spasms have even extended to my ribs making it uncomfortable to breathe as the other muscles in my back are compensating for the work which has taken place on my lower back preventing those muscles from being able to “pull their own weight”.

The body is amazing in the way that various parts try to compensate for other parts that are injured.  I spoke to my doctor about beginning some therapy so those injured muscles can go back to work and begin to perform as designed again and so that the rest of my body will not have to compensate for them and have the extra stress.  My doctor told me it was too soon after the trauma to expect them to pitch in and start working again.  The muscles in my lower back are still somewhat in shock.  They still need time to heal from the initial pain and trauma and getting back into the same routine will take some time and they will not be able to bear the same load at first.

My discussion with the doctor reminded me of some of the discussions that God has in His word has about His Children, the church, which in scripture is often referred to as the body.  The bible says in 1 Corinthians 12:20 – 26 “But now there are many members, but one body.  And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it”.

Sometimes there are times that our brothers and sisters are injured, either physically, emotionally, mentally, or even spiritually.  Because of that injury they are not the same, they are not whole and they cannot function as they are designed to do by God.  Because we are all members of the same body, when they suffer, we suffer.  We are called to reach out and minister to those who hurt.  We are asked to comfort them just as we would want to be comforted.  The bible says in Galatians 6:2 “Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”  We are asked to support the other members of our body and compensate for them until they heal to the point that the can function properly again.

Supporting other members of our body can come in various forms and fashions.  Sometimes this can mean additional work for us; most times it calls for some sort of sacrifice.  We may need to drive across town in rush hour traffic to take a meal to someone’s house.  We may be called to drive someone to a doctor’s appointment who cannot go on their own.  We may be called to simply sit and hold someone’s hand as they grieve the loss of a loved one.  And always, always we should be in prayer for those who are hurting and in need of recovery.

I think we too often pronounce others ready to go back to “full time duty”, forget to check in on them and drop them off of our prayer list.  We get busy and in a way it seems as if we are asking them to begin to take on tasks again that they are not physically, emotionally, mentally, or even spiritually ready for.  I think it is very important that we prayerfully consider if we are properly and fully supporting hurting individuals.  Do they still need our prayer?  Do they still need someone to hold their hand?  Can they use some help around the home?  Those are questions that are probably not asked enough.  I also think it is important for hurting individuals to be honest with themselves and ask where they are in the healing process.  What do they need?  Where are they in the healing process?  Are they ready to get back on their feet and be a fully functioning member of the body?  It is important to have someone to confide in; someone from whom you can ask for prayer and support.

There are many members of this body of Christ and we are to bear one another’s burdens and thus fulfill the law of Christ.  That means we will have to ask questions about where we are and where others are in the healing process.

So where am I at right now?  Right now, I need some sleep.  Right now, I know that it is too early to start any exercising but I know that it is not too late to still ask for continued prayer.

If you would like to know more about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you can send me an email directly at pastorpstephens@aol.com