My sister Mary recently injured her shoulder. She didn’t remember any specific moment when anything snapped or cracked, but as the summer weeks passed, her pain steadily increased. Eventually she couldn’t lift her grandbabies or anything else. The diagnosis? A “frozen shoulder.” The remedy? Physical therapy.

When I asked how therapy was going, Mary said, “The woman pushes my arm until my shoulder starts to hurt, and then she really pushes.” As a result, little by little her shoulder has “thawed” and has became useable again. After ten weeks of therapy, it’s almost 100%.

God works on people in exactly the same way. He determines where we’re deficient or “frozen”, then designs a scenario for each of us that will involve stretching and pushing, which often brings pain and tears. But the end result is growth in spiritual maturity. The Lord doesn’t get pleasure from watching us struggle but does delight in our progress as we navigate through it. And so he lets the troubles come.

When our Chicago area home refused to sell, which would have brought needed financial stability, we had been ushered into God’s therapy room. Week after week he was stretching us, pushing us to the limit, improving our perseverance. Similar to Mary’s experience, it was unpleasant and even maddening. But God designs our therapy with perfection and knows exactly when to ease up. He promises not to overdo it.

During the holiday season of 2008, as we were about to take our renovated but unpopular home off the market, we got another carrot on a stick. A young couple toured our house three times in quick succession, which encouraged us to keep the house listed. Then one afternoon our realtor called: “Good news! They just made an offer, and this one looks solid!” It was Christmas week.

Although we wondered why a childless couple in their mid-twenties would want such a large house, as we signed the contract offer, we didn’t ask. Our realtor left with a big grin, and we did our best to share her enthusiasm. But after she walked out, we shook our heads and agreed, “It won’t happen.”

Within days the couple arrived with an inspector, who discovered tiny bits of vermiculite in the attic insulation, which had trace amounts of asbestos in it. Safety protocol was to leave it undisturbed, but our potential buyers said it had to be removed or they’d pull out of the contract. Even though it cost $8000, we decided to do it.

As 2008 rolled into 2009, Isaiah 52:12 was on my mind: “For the Lord will go before you; the God of Israel will be your rear guard.” We needed to follow God into a new beginning, forgetting the failures of our past. The buyers were still with us, and there was a flicker of hope that this time we might actually be selling and moving. But as Nate’s back had begun to worsen, I’d fallen on the ice and broken two ribs, which prompted a question:

Shouldn’t both of us be in physical therapy?

(…to be continued)

“To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness.” (Ecclesiastes 2:26a)