The Brace and the Blessing

L

inda and I are blessed to be the parents of three healthy happy children.  Words cannot capture my feelings of joy and gratitude when I saw Elizabeth, then Joshua, then Andrew for the first time and saw that they were whole and well.  Some weeks after Joshua's birth, however, we discovered a problem with his feet.  Joshua's feet were not straight--they were turned in rather badly.  We were troubled by what this could mean to his future, not wanting anything to impede his walk. 

     At the advice of our pediatrician, we waited a couple of months to see if the problem would correct itself, but it did not.  We then sought the help of an orthopedic specialist.  After a thorough examination, he gave us some good news; Joshua's walk could be straightened out.  Then came the bad news--this change would not come that day in the doctor's office.  His walk could not be straightened with a pill or even a shot.  Joshua's walk would be straightened only through weeks of stretc­hing exercises, several sets of casts, orthopedic shoes, and several months of sleeping in shoes bolted to a brace.  

During those weeks and months of treatment, especially on those nights when I bolted that brace on to those little shoes on those little feet, I felt both the promise of blessing my son's life and the pain of burdening his life.  Sometimes the pain felt stronger than the promise.  I asked myself more than once, "Will this brace make enough difference to be worth the bother?"

     Months passed and Joshua no longer needed to wear his brace.  Those shortened naps and restless nights were over.  As I look back upon the cost and benefit of that brace, I can answer my question with a new perspective. "Was the brace worth the trou­ble?  Just look at the difference it made in his walk!"

     Many of us have mixed feelings when we hear the call to grow in Christ through a personal devotional life.  We see that our walk is not what it could or should be.  We do not want to fall short of what God has created us to be.  We are excited to hear the good news that our walk can be straight­ened, our lives can be changed for the better, we can fulfill the purpose for which God has given us life.  But then comes the bad news.  Our walk is not straightened out with one prayer or one trip to the altar.  Our walk is not even corrected by a weekly appearance at a house of worship.  Our walk is only straightened out by a long process--a costly commit­ment to a lifestyle of study, reflection and appli­cation of God's Word.  As we undertake this kind of life, we feel both the promise of a better life and the demand of the process of attaining it.  We ask ourselves, "Will this ‘brace’ of my spiritual walk make enough difference to be worth the work?"

     I still have Joshua's orthopedic brace.  He doesn't use it anymore, but I do.  The excuse I give Linda for not throwing it away is that I can, with Joshua's permission, use it as an object lesson for a children's sermon.  But mostly, I keep it as a reminder of the cost and the reward of a life of discipleship.  I keep it to remind me that if I really want to straighten out my crooked walk, I must do for myself what I did for Joshua.  I must stretch my mind through study.  I must live in an orthopedic attitude of prayer--an attitude which will constantly bend my thoughts and feelings in a God-ward direction.  And I must strap on the brace of God's Word which will align my heart with the heart of God.  No, I'll never throw that little brace away.  Why not?  Because every time I saw Joshua perform with his school’s jump-rope team or fast-break down the basketball court or round third base on his way to home, or take a walk with dad, and remember the price he paid to straighten out his feet for those feats, I learned a great lesson all over again.  The promise is worth the pain.  The reward is worth the regimen.  The blessing is worth the brace.    

This story is taken from my new book, Led By a Child: Truths My Children Have Taught Me About God. Click here to learn more.