Injuries Hinder Our Ability to See God Correctly

As I struggle to regain the ability to walk normally, I'm spending a lot of time doing water exercises. The pool that I visit is at the local YMCA, and as soon as I get into it, the first thing I do is walk across it a couple of times before doing other therapy exercises.

I've been doing this for some months, and since the start I've felt like the floor of the pool was not level. I couldn't imagine that such a new and well-made pool would have a floor that was uneven so I continued to walk it as though it was level. Nevertheless it felt so uneven to me that it was hard for me to shake that idea.

Recently my sister took me to the pool and got in with me. I asked her to walk across it and tell me if it felt even to her. She walked it and assured me that the pool floor was level.

That was my confirmation that the problem wasn't the floor but my disability, particularly the injured leg that keeps me from walking properly.

This is an example of how easy it is for us humans to misread God. In areas where we suffer from emotional or mental or spiritual 'disability', we easily misread or misjudge the truth because it feels so wrong, so "uneven." Consequently, we continue to walk according to our personal 'injuries'.

Our brokenness as humans causes us to misjudge God's goodness. Our notions of Him are often distorted because of our 'disabilities'. Only in Jesus can we get the full and true version of the Father. As we place our faith in Him as the perfect reflection of God, we can "exercise" according to what He shows us in spite of our internal injuries that would guide us to exercise incorrectly.

Just as my sister and my therapist and others can reassure me that the pool floor is level, so those around us who don't have the same emotional or mental or spiritual disability that we have can be a help to assure us that God is like Jesus no matter how much our subjective experience may tell us differently. With that assurance we can align our 'exercises' with Truth, and over time the crooked part in us becomes straight and in agreement with that which is true/level.

Psalm 27:11 (NET) Teach me how you want me to live; lead me along a level path because of those who wait to ambush me!