Twisted Spines and Scoliosis Treatments

"The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear-minded and self-controlled, so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength that God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:7-11).

What a way to start out my reading for the morning! It's a neon sign written across the sky: The End Of All Things Is Near. Quo Vadis: Which way are you marching? Whither goest thou? Pick a side, take a stance. 

It's like turning to the last chapter in a thriller and getting goosebumps as you realize... everything's about the wrap up. All these loose plot threads are going to unite in this chapter. There's going to be some intense things happening right before the final page when we hit the grand climactic point of the story before the falling action and the final denouement.

But y'all... we've been reading for a while. The book's been long, and we're tired, our eyes are weary as we've watched the events unfold on the pages. It's tempting to just... let it go, to close the book, ignore the events, pull our apathetic blanket back over our heads, and let the weight of complacency sink us into a deep slumber.

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (I Peter 5:8-9).

This morning as I prayed for our nation and for the various players in this big story that seems to be playing out on the world's stage, the Lord showed me a backpack filled up with rocks. It looked heavy, and I didn't want to put it on, but I felt like I was supposed to.

I don't like heavy backpacks; when I was in middle and high school, I used to carry all my textbooks, notebooks, and binders in my backpack all the time. I would carry it over one shoulder (my right one), and I now have a spine that looks like an S as a result.

I needed another shoulder. Sure, it might still have been heavy, but my spine might have better understood the weight distribution. 

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). And, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

A yoke is meant to be pulled by two oxen; that's the whole point of a yoke. If you only have one ox pulling, then you don't need a yoke. The yoke is meant to keep two oxen in step with each other.

So when the load we're pulling, the backpack we're carrying seems too heavy... we need that yoke, we need that extra shoulder. And the point is... None of this is hard for God. 

He's not gasping beneath the weight of a pandemic. He's not losing sleep at night over an uncertain election. He's not wringing his hands in fear of what might happen. Why? 

Because He's God. His yoke is easy. His burden is light.

And He offers us that ease, that lack of weight. All we have to do is take Him up on it.

So those gifts He's given each one of us? "It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to  be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service..." (Ephesians 4:11-13). That's not an exhaustive list of the spiritual gifts, but it gives the idea. 

So, those gifts He's given each one of us (You heard me. You, too. Yes, you.), "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." 

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up" (Galatians 6:9).