In December of 2022, I was putting away my Fall decorations and because my husband's health condition doesn’t allow him to lift, etc, I had asked if any of my sons or sons in-law could help. Unfortunately, at the time they were all busy, so I got impatient and decided to put them away myself. I got my step ladder and brought the bins to the shed to put them up in the loft. I was doing fine until I came to the last bin. This one had to go up higher on the top of another bin. I wasn’t tall enough to give it enough of a boost for it to stay so it kept falling back at me. I decided to give it one final push but again it fell back, only this time it fell away from me. I tried to catch it and in doing so I fell awkwardly off the ladder. As I was falling I tried to reach out and catch the trim on the shed door but there wasn’t enough of a ledge to grab so I fell hard to the ground on my shoulder! The pain was very, very severe! So here I am on the ground in a massive amount of pain and I screamed as loud as I could, calling for my husband. I wasn’t sure what I had injured, I just knew it was bad and I didn’t think I could get up. 

My husband heard the crash from my fall, and then my scream had him scared to pieces. He came rushing out and carefully helped me up and into the house. My left arm was just hanging and not moving. My husband immediately told me that my shoulder was either broken or dislocated! I was hoping that if I took pain meds I would be ok, but when I felt my shoulder I looked at my husband and told him to call for an ambulance because I could tell I was injured pretty badly. I ended up at the hospital and found out I dislocated my shoulder about 6 inches out of its socket, broke a large chunk of bone on the shoulder, and cracked the humerus bone. It took 3 hours before they were able to get the team together to put my shoulder back in place. I had to see a specialist to get a brace, and then wait 3 weeks to help it heal before going through physical therapy to get my movement back. It was a long time of healing and painful therapy but it was worth it to get the results of a completely healed shoulder. 

I was thinking about the months of healing and pain I went through and how confident I used to be about climbing a ladder before this all happened. It took over 8 months before I would even think about stepping on a ladder. Before I fell, I never spent a moment thinking about stepping up on a step ladder. Due to my confidence in myself, I just made enough room to squeeze my step ladder in there and started putting those bins away. I didn’t spend 5 seconds thinking about my safety if I were to fall. After I fell, my husband and daughter both went back to the shed to look where I had fallen. Right next to where I fell was an open bin that was broken with a sharp side that could have severely cut me, and inside it were a lot of odds and ends, one of them being a tall skinny piece of metal sticking straight up. I praise the Lord for sparing me from that metal piece stabbing into my side. 

As I was healing from my fall, I thought of some truths and lessons that events like this can teach us. In our spiritual lives, all of us have fallen more than once, and suffered varying injuries as a result. The key is to heal from the injury in the proper way.

An ambulance took me to an Emergency room where a team of doctors and medical workers gave me medication to put me under and then they popped it back in place! My daughter filmed it and thank the Lord I was not awake for that part! They grabbed my arm and yanked it several times until the doctor felt it pop and said “There we go, that one did it!!” Later when I awoke, my shoulder was back in place but I quickly learned I had a journey ahead of therapy etc., etc. in order to heal. The doctors stressed to me what I could do and couldn’t do. I had to follow their instructions in detail if I expected to have full use of my arm and shoulder again.

This all reminded me of when a Christian falls away from the Lord. First of all, every time we fall away from the Lord we get ourselves hurt! 

Second, it is our own foolish confidence in ourselves that causes us to ignore safety warnings and suddenly we find ourselves injured! Our confidence in self makes us forget about the simple safety measures like reading our Bibles, praying, being in church, staying away from wrong influences, etc., and it doesn’t take long and bang, we stumble and fall down hard. 

Sometimes, other people hurt us or circumstances hit us and it’s real pain and it can be so bad sometimes that we don’t think we can get back up! It is right here we find a third lesson. Just as my doctors stressed to me the importance of doing things right as I healed, it is also important to do things right when we are hurt spiritually!

A fourth lesson is surrendering our hearts to the Doctor’s instructions. Many fall and try to get back up but they end up falling again because they don’t do it God’s Way! I had to surrender my heart to my doctors. A Christian must surrender his/her heart to the Great Physician! Remember David when he sinned with Bathsheba - he humbled himself before God in Psalm 51. He cried in Psalm 51:2 “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” 

A fifth lesson is we must swallow our pride in order to heal. I had to have an ambulance, fire truck, and other safety vehicles come to my house in front of all our neighbors! I didn’t care because I knew I needed to get help at the hospital. Christian, when you fall, you must swallow your pride and rush to get help! You don’t need to go to the lost for help, you need to run to your Saviour, run to your Pastor and his wife, or run to Godly people you respect and let them help you.

A sixth lesson is that healing is painful and takes time and patience. No matter how bad it hurts to get our injuries stitched up or popped back into place, it must be done! I would not have use of my arm today had I just decided it was a pulled muscle and in a little time it would be fine. Too much of the time Christians are severely hurt, injured, and wounded, and rather than as David did, turn to the Lord and face the music, they keep drifting off and self medicating or listening to the foolishness of this world and causing themselves more pain and sorrow.

A seventh lesson is to swallow our pride! When I fell, I knew something pretty bad had happened and I needed help. My husband rushed to my side! Growing up in Wyoming and being around rodeo and football, he knew immediately that my shoulder was injured and he knew I needed to go to the hospital! At first I told him I thought it might be a pulled muscle. However, I was injured, and because of that I was not the one able in those moments who could properly assess the situation and what was needed. Christian, when you get hurt, injured, or wounded you are going to have to swallow your pride and admit you have fallen and can’t get up in your own strength, that you need help. You must listen to those who help you and follow their instructions! Ultimately, you must follow God and His Word in order to heal properly and get back to full strength, serving the Saviour! Psalm 30:2 “O Lord my God, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.”

If you are a hurting Christian and struggling to get back up, just stop and think about what caused you to stumble, remove the stumbling blocks, proceed with caution, and get your heart back in tune with the Lord. Nothing sweeter than knowing that there is nothing between you and the Saviour.