“How are you feeling?” friends asked me as they glanced at my neck brace, worry lines between their eyes. 

“I’m excellent,” I always replied. “Getting stronger every day.” 

Whining All the Way

But that wasn’t the entire truth. Yes, I did have more energy than several weeks prior, when I’d first returned from the hospital after disc-replacement surgery. But I wasn’t “excellent.” I counted the days until I could get the irritating neck brace off and start living again. I couldn’t bend over to pet a cat or pick up a pen dropped on the floor. I needed daily naps. I couldn’t even pull weeds!

Most women would be happy to have their husband take over the housework, bend down to feed their three cats, and do all the cooking. Not me. 

“I can’t do anything,” I whined as my husband, Kevin, brought me another cup of tea. “And this collar I have to wear for another three weeks feels like a jail sentence.”

A Tale of Two Postures

Since I wasn’t supposed to bend my neck down, I had to tell myself a hundred times a day, “Keep your head up. Hold your back straight. Pretend you’re tall.” 

Learning a new posture was a huge challenge. But I knew my recovery depended on it. 

At my post-op appointment, the surgeon looked at my X-ray and said it was “perfect.” And when he released me with no restrictions, I realized all the discomfort had been worth the result. 

Better yet, my everyday posture had improved. To this day, I keep my head up and my back straight. My excellent posture is thanks to the imposed sentence of a collar that forced me to keep my head up. 

God Is God. I’m Not.

God used my recuperation time to help me gain excellent posture. I need to use this as a permanent life lesson. 

The imposed sentence also made me realize I was searching for answers in the wrong places. 

Too often, I find myself looking down at a problem. I worry as to how things might resolve. I obsess over a possible solution. I’m tempted to whine, which never helps. And to worry, which makes the circumstance seem worse. Then, as a last resort (I’m embarrassed to confess), I remember how God can and will use any issue that arises for good in the end—if I let Him. If I surrender control enough to say, “God, You alone are the Redeemer. You know how to bring good from difficult circumstances.” 

And then I ask Him to intervene.

From Messes to Miracles

If I’d only remembered that secret to freedom from worry that I’d discovered years ago—the many times in my past God has shown how much bigger He is than, well, anything—I could have saved myself weeks of whining. 

Car problems, the loss of a job, family conflicts. You name it; God had the answers. 

Remembering these lemons-to-lemonade situations raises hope that God will do it again. He never grows weary of helping us. In fact, it honours God when we ask Him to intervene. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28) isn’t merely some encouraging saying. It’s a promise from Almighty God, a God who is able—and, yes, willing—to take our messes and give us miracles. 

All the Answers

So, every day, in every hard situation, I need to hold my head up by reminding myself of what God taught me from the outcome of my neck surgery. I need to hold my head up by believing that He can and will solve any problem that pops up. I need to hold my head up by saying, “Lord, You alone know how to fix my brokenness. Only You can bring good from what to me seems bad.”

God is the only one who has all the answers I will ever need. And I’ll be able to see those answers—as long as I keep my head up.