June 12th, 2008
The Unseen Injury
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:21-32
At church some of you may have noticed Ryan’s arm. Here’s the deal. A couple of weeks ago (May 30) I received a call from Ryan’s school saying he had gotten hurt on the playground. I picked him up and took him to his primary care physician who ordered an x-ray of his elbow. The x-ray came back fine, so the physician sent him home with a sling to help him keep from moving it since it hurt to extend it. However, on Monday Ryan still could not fully bend or extend his arm, and it was still swollen. I called his physician again who referred him to an orthopedic surgeon. June 4th we went to the surgeon who stated that the x-ray showed nothing, but since it obviously hurt so much, he would put it in a splint to keep it relatively immobile. This past Tuesday, June 10, we went back. As they removed the splint we saw a huge bruise covering his whole forearm. Another x-ray showed that there was a break. Now he is in a full-arm cast. Perhaps he will need pins put in, and one person told me that he may not regain the ability to completly extend his arm (he doesn’t know that, so please don’t scare him – I am waiting to see how his healing goes). All from one little playground accident!
Today as I read Ephesians 4-5 I realized the correlation between these verses and Ryan’s injury. This small injury of Ryan’s, outwardly unseen and a tiny fracture inwardly may affect his mobility long-term. How does this pertain to the verses? How often do we speak a little bitterness, just a touch of anger or even drop one-line slanders? These are such small, seemingly insignificant events. However, they do have long-term affects on our inward spirit, outward testimony and even others’ lives.
A few weeks ago I got completely disgusted with my words. There are times when I complain about circumstances or people. I can be judgmental. I criticize my husband. (As I so often put here – please don’t judge me before you look at your own words!!). I decided that for two weeks I would try to say only uplifting, encouraging, thankful words. Do you know how hard that was? (I will admit, there were times when I failed). In fact, at the end of the two weeks, when I told Tim what I had been trying, he commented that he wondered what was wrong – I had been so quiet! How humbling is that???
Now, I continue to pray that God will work through my mouth – not in spite of my mouth. I can tear down or build up. I pray that the Holy Spirit will not let the little words I say come out and ruin my testimony, embarrass God or fester in my inward spirit. These words can cause huge injuries to myself and others as they contemplate what I am complaining about or judging. Be careful. Just because we don’t see the injury of our words on our attitudes or on others doesn’t mean it’s not there. Sometimes only time will expose the affects of our words.