Hi everyone. This is Tina blogging today. Today I want to talk about an issue that many of us contemplate – will God choose to heal my Scoliosis (or other ailment)? Or, more truthfully – why hasn’t He healed my (or my child’s) Scoliosis? This is a question that is universal to any ailment you or a loved one may suffer from – it’s the spiritual struggle that many of us have when dealing with a malady.
Sitting in church the other day, I was listening to the Gospel lesson from Luke 13 (10-13). The passage is as follows:
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
I heard this lesson many times before in church, but this time was different – what struck me this time was that the woman “was bent over and could not straighten up” – was it possible that the woman in this story had some form of Scoliosis? And, then I got to thinking…Jesus healed that woman without faltering. No hesitation, whatsoever. Therefore, He clearly thought that the suffering from Scoliosis was dire and in need of his miracles. The second was that he healed her very quickly – she didn’t even have to ask! So, why is it so hard for the rest of us to get such a miracle, when we are praying daily for it? Many of us have legions of people praying for our ailing family member, but some of us don’t get the full-out healing miracle we are really asking for.
So, that begs the question – is it possible that God sends healing in many different forms? Is it possible that he puts all sorts of “puzzle pieces” together for us, so that we can get the help we need from many sources, in ways that equal up to the healing that he intends for us? And, then I got to thinking about how strongly He put the ideas and the know-how into my heart to start EmBraced In Comfort. I can look back on my life, at all the skills and seemingly unrelated bits of information that He brought into my life, and see how it all came together to slowly, but surely, chip away at the discomfort experienced by brace-wearing patients and to help them experience the healing they need without the discomfort from a brace. There is no way that little old me would have come up with an idea that would have grown to what it is without God’s intervention. And, that is pretty awe-inspiring – in other words, we can all contribute to the healing of each other in some small way. What is He putting in your heart today? How can you help others?
Let’s look at some other of His instruments in the Scoliosis World – Dr. Morningstar (and his fellow Scolismart Docs), who have come up with unique and ingenious new therapies for Scoliosis, helping many people and turning traditional treatment plans upside down. And, for us, one of our “angels” was Luke Stikeleather, at National Scoliosis Center. Luke (how fitting that his name matches this book of the Gospel) was able to make a brace that worked wonderfully for both of my children, but, for my son, it was a contributing factor (along with other therapies, like pre- Scolismart work with Dr. Morningstar) to bringing his Scoliosis down to where it WAS, in all respects, “Healed” (brought down to 10 degrees). It still exists, but not much more than 15 degrees. Yes, he’ll always battle it, but we have a fighting chance now. We have hope. My daughter was not healed, but surgery was prolonged for years through work with both Dr. Morningstar and Luke and, when we felt the need to move to fusion surgery, after years of fighting, she was blessed through a great surgeon (Dr.Li at the University of Michigan) and she is very happy now, post surgery. Her Scoliosis was not cured, and she will always be plagued by side effects, but she feels healed, she feels stronger, and she feels proud of herself, and those are the important things.
So, my dear friends, your Scoliosis patient is very much worthy of healing and help. And, God has put many people out there, including you, to be advocates, healers, and comforters to you and your family. So, don’t lose heart. He may not put His hand on us all and whisk away the pain, but healing may come in doses, through many avenues, and through people that He places on your path. Scoliosis IS important to God, and so is your Scoliosis patient.
