Feeble Knee Faith

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.” Isaiah 35:3

I didn’t just wake up one morning and my knees were done. They didn’t become feeble overnight. It was a slow process over time. I have been running my race, and the wear and tear of my life has been hard on them. Along with arthritis, it has caused joint inflammation where bone rubs on bone.

Just having full knee replacement surgery, I have seen an analogy to the Christian walk. The obvious one is how when one member of the body hurts, we all hurt. It affects everyone. On a different level, it is teaching me about faith and trusting God with my pain. I need to trust God and take a step forward EVEN IF IT HURTS.

My doctor told me before surgery a few important things to expect and he gave me some tips. First, he told me the first 2 weeks after surgery would be the hardest. Next, he said perseverance and my faith are important to my recovery. Then, do not compare my recovery to another person’s recovery and experience. There are no short-cuts. Stretching is painful but critical. And, finally, healing and restoration WILL happen IF you step out.

The first couple of weeks through any struggle are the hardest. You must persevere and hang onto your faith if you are to be victorious. Maybe God has chosen to do “surgery” on you. He is performing an operative procedure on you to “fix” you and make you whole again. Nobody likes surgery but sometimes it’s the only option. Your only option to being made whole again is to go through surgery and pain. Yes, there will be tears. Yes, there will be pain. Yes, there will be low points and points of discouragement but we cannot be made truly whole without the tears and pain.

After having my knee surgery, I realized how hard this recovery will be. I realized how much it takes for a step of faith to begin to walk again. I was in pain and weak. I had to remind myself that this is temporary. My mind says this should be easy to do based on all the steps I’ve taken in the past. Yet, it’s not.

What God has done in the past was a process of a slow step by slow step until I got stronger. I learned early on to take one step at a time and I learned to walk again and eventually, I had a “normal’ walk. It’s the same spiritually. I will walk again. Persevering through difficult times is not a sprint; it’s many short races day after day, one step after another. Just keep going.

When you take that first step with your new knee, you tend to waver a little bit because it hurts and it’s a new step of faith. Where I had great faith before, and the ability to stand and walk, I now had a weakness and struggle. It wasn’t so easy.

It was necessary to step out in the motion of moving my foot and putting weight on it but it would hurt. (I don’t like pain; who does??) There will be pain. I don’t want to inflict more pain upon myself and a step will hurt but pain is what strengthens me and eventually gives me strength and stamina. Unless I step out, there will be no healing and no restoration. If there is healing, it may heal incorrectly because of my lack of discipline to take slow steps one at a time. The faith will come with the discipline, the pain and with the motion when I know I can do it. I need to trust Him that I have just enough healing to take a step.

I won’t know if the knee surgery worked unless I pick up my foot and move it. You won’t know if your decision to step out is what God wants you to do unless you pick up your foot and move it. The motion of placing a step will change from “I can’t do it” to “I must try” or I will be stuck here. Not a feeling-it’s an act of physical movement from you. Unless you let God fix the pain in your movement, there can be no healing and no restoration. Step out and feeble knees will become strong.

Daily submission to Godly discipline leads to increased strength and whole restoration and healing. Being on your knees daily leads to strength to stand.

“Strengthen the . . . feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated but rather healed.” Heb. 12:12