Get Back Right!

I came to my chiropractor so he can fix me. Gotta get my back right after injuring it, almost a year and a half ago, squatting heavy weight in the gym.

After college (about 16 years ago), I became quite concerned (with seasons of obsession) about maintaining the athletic body I had as a college athlete. When I played volleyball for Morgan State, I was told what to do with my body in the athletic department's hopes that I wouldn't waste its scholarship money ... so that I'd produce the athleticism it hoped I'd produce. My teammates and I were put on strength and conditioning programs, underwent two-a-day practices, and were provided food on campus and when we went away for matches. These mandatory things caused me to have a certain body that I liked but failed to appreciate then the way I do now. Part of this is because I was younger, not having the responsibilities or freedom I have now.

With this freedom, I can go to the gym or not; I can eat right or not; I can ensure that I'm doing the things to maintain or maximize my health or not. It has taken me some time since college to mature in my perspective on my body and health, but I believe God is okay with how I see it now. I believe this because the announcement of a church fast no longer makes me cringe or cry on the front row (a shoulder bouncing type of cry). I no longer go to the gym to beef up so that my thighs and butt turn men's heads or pull envious attention from other women. I now work out in order to stay fit, strong, and healthy because God gave me this body and I'm supposed to make choices about it that show Him I appreciate what He's done in making me. 

It's like this ... as a school teacher, many times a thought to purchase something for my classroom is only a fleeting one because I've experienced the way the young people in my building over the years have not shown respect or have purposely disregarded what my or other educators' thoughtfulness and resources have provided for them. And because I sacrifice, on a daily, to earn my money, I get angry when someone else misuses or destroys what I've purchased with it. I imagine that my misuse of my body in any way has projected the same message of my disregard and disrespect toward God.

So, here I am at my chiropractor's office to fix what I injured in my back while trying to look like I did in college. Yes, I'm undergoing physical correction with each visit, but it reminds me of how God takes the time to correct what we've messed up in ourselves spiritually in order to prepare us for things He knows we need prepping for.

THE PRESSURE POINTS

On a normal chiropractic visit, the first thing that happens is I lie on my stomach on a special table that's made for adjusting patients. I'm told to take in a deep breath and then exhale as my chiropractor strategically applies pressure from the top down to the bottom of my back. As he does this, I must lie there and trust that he knows what he's doing in applying this heavy pressure on a very sensitive area of my body ... an area that stabilizes me. It is much like this in my spiritual walk. I must trust God as He applies strange pressure to areas of my life that will, after He's corrected them, stabilize me as a representative of His way of doing stuff. This pressure that He signs off on in my life is not comfortable, nor does it ever feel convenient. But it's necessary for correction.

DON'T RESIST THE TWISTS

The next step my chiropractor takes is instructing me to turn on my side, putting my top knee over my bottom one and folding my arms so he can twist my body in a way that produces audible cracking noises ... several of them. He does the other side in the same manner. This position could be a frightening one if I did not trust that he knows what he's doing and has my best interest at heart. Likewise, the Lord puts me in seemingly twisted situations and trials that I could get bent out of shape about if I was not aware of the fact that He knows I'm ready for such testing and twisting. It is here that I'm humbled because I have to let Him shift my perspective or else I'll become a casualty of my own understanding. 

BEAUTY IN THE BLIND SIDE

The last thing my chiropractor does is tell me to lie on my back. It then feels like he touches my feet to ensure they're aligned with each other. Next, he abruptly but skillfully twists my head to the right once, then the left (several cracks again) and after, pulls my head toward his body as he stands behind me (seemingly stretching my neck). In like manner, I've experienced God abruptly dropping things, events, and conditions in my life that have rocked my world as I knew it but later revealed the beauty in how the blind siding factor of the trial skillfully equipped me with greater awareness of God and the peace that He is, no matter what kind of chaos I'm in.

IT'S AN ADJUSTMENT

Get this. A chiropractic adjustment is strange ... awkward at first, but once you start feeling the results of the pressing and twisting, you're grateful for the hands and expertise of your chiropractor. I cannot say that I've appreciated God's testing at its onset, but I now know what it means to consider it an opportunity for joy when trouble comes my way. "For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing" (James 1:3-4).

When I start to complain, indulging in feeling sorry for myself in trouble, my relationship with God and being attentive to His reminders that He's walking through life with me encourages my heart. He reminds me that He signs off on the hard stuff because He knows He'll get glory out of me through it. This helps me stick to my guns and always gets me back right.

Thank You, God.

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