The Pain Of Growing And Healing

The Pain Of Growing And Healing

I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. Philippians 1:9

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Gary said. He’d come to my office complaining of weight loss, night sweats, general malaise, and fatigue.

We did the usual in-office exam, and I didn’t find anything remarkable. “Looking at your records, I see you were here about six months ago. Everything looked good then, and you were fit and healthy with no complaints. The only thing that’s changed is you’ve lost fifteen pounds.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of puzzled about that. I haven’t been dieting.”

Gary wasn’t a smoker or a drinker, and he didn’t have a family history that would indicate any problems. Without more clues to go on, the cause of his symptoms could be almost anything.

I ordered lab work and gave him the results a few days later. “It all came back negative, except for your white blood cell count. Yours was twenty-seven, which is about twice as high as normal. Your hematocrit was thirty, which is slightly low. I think I’ll have you meet with a hematologist. He’ll be able to run some specialized tests to see what’s going on.”

The next week, Gary was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an aggressive type of cancer that needed treatment. The specialist tried different chemotherapy treatments, but they all failed. Eventually, Gary’s only option was to have a bone marrow transplant.

For the transplant to work, the treatment had to completely destroy Gary’s existing bone marrow so his body wouldn’t reject the donor marrow. It’s a dangerous treatment primarily used in life-threatening situations. Fortunately, in Gary’s case it worked.

Sometimes growth and healing involve rooting out or destroying something that isn’t functioning properly for us. This is also true spiritually. If we want new life to grow, we must destroy old habits and destructive patterns of thinking.

The Bible refers to this as pruning the vine so that new life can develop and the vine can produce fruit. Is there something in your life that isn’t functioning as it should? Whether it’s an old habit or an old way of thinking, consider pruning the dead branches from your life as a way to help you grow stronger.

TODAY’S RX

Though pruning can be painful, the new growth will produce fruit that will make your pain a distant memory.

Lord, examine my heart. Please uproot and destroy the sinful behaviors that have taken hold and are spreading in my life. Replace them with your life-giving truth.