Take My Yoke

So it's been tough to abide by my own limitations lately. I was getting restless the other day- frustrated that this one-armedness is slowing me down from my normal pace of life. In trying to go about life as normal, I actually hurt myself more. I tried sleeping without the sling, and in doing so, pulled either a muscle or tendon in my upper arm/shoulder area. Later that day, I was on my way to meet my roommate and her mom who is visiting, and I stumbled over a tree branch. When my shoulders tensed up in preparation for a possible fall, the already strained muscle tore and sent a shooting pain through the arm. Because it's already in a sling, I don't feel it much now. But I realize that my restlessness is causing me to see my arm as a burden that is holding me back. Well let me show you the devotion God sent my way this morning:

"In order to receive any benefit from our captivity, we must accept the situation and be determined to make the best of it. Worrying over what we have lost or what has been taken from us will not make things better but will only prevent us from improving what remains. We will only serve to make the rope around us tighter if we rebel against it.

In the same way, an excitable horse that will not calmly submit to its bridle only strangles itself. And a high-spirited animal that is restless in its yoke only bruises its own shoulders."

Wow, a little close to home. I am reminded not to see this immobile arm as a cumbersome burden to carry, but God's gentle yoke to lift. It is to steer me, to guide me, and to push me into a loving dependence on Him. The devotion goes on to say:

"No calamity will ever bring only evil to us, if we will immediately take it to God in fervent prayer. Even as we take shelter beneath a tree during a downpour of rain, we may unexpectedly find fruit on its branches."

-Streams in the Desert

Lord, somehow use this immobile arm for your glory. Refine me, shape me, and use it. Yours be the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory forever! Amen.