by:  Cris Corzine-McCloskey

And just like that, our country switches from a brief bout of thankfulness to Black Friday madness. The countdown to Christmas has begun. Only this year, it’s going to be a strange, COVID-y kind of Christmas, where facemasks will be hung with care instead of stockings. I hate 2020’s never-ending pandemonium and want it all to just go away. To be fixed.

I am a recovering “fixer.” If I see someone hurting, my natural inclination is to rush in and make them feel better. But slapping band-aids on wounds often causes more harm than good. True healing and long-term solutions are rarely quick fixes. Today, I was reminded of that out the hard way.

After years of Tylenol, massages, and steroid shots in my butt for back pain, I finally had to go to a chiropractor. My first appointment was today. He used words like “long-term structural damage” and “chronic pain.” You see, my quick fixes had only masked the problem. To get lasting relief, I will have to consent to his treatment plan. It won’t be fast or painless, but it will be a solution instead of a band-aid.

I don’t think our country would have split apart at the seams this year if we didn’t already have some chronic issues and long-term structural damage. And as excited as people are about vaccines and inaugurations, I think we know we need more profound healing than that.

Kimberly Henderson of Proverbs 31 Ministries recently posted this, “”I would have pulled Joseph out. Out of that pit. Out of that prison. Out of that pain. I would have cheated nations out of the one God would use to deliver them from famine. I would have pulled David out. Out of Saul’s spear-throwing presence. Out of the caves he hid away in. Out of the pain of rejection. I would have cheated Israel out of a God-hearted king.”

“I would have pulled Esther out. Out of being snatched from her only family. Out of being placed in a position she never asked for. Out of the path of a vicious, power-hungry foe. I would have cheated a people out of the woman God would use to save their very lives. And I would have pulled Jesus off the cross. Off the path that would mean nakedness and beatings, nails and thorns. I would have cheated the entire world out of a Savior. Out of salvation. Out of an eternity filled with no more suffering and no more pain.”

Me too, Kimberly, me too. And if I could, I would pull our country out of the pain it’s in. But our country doesn’t need an aspirin or a steroid shot in its rear. It needs Jesus. Lots and lots of Jesus. And often, it’s the pain from the wound that causes us to cry out to the only one who can genuinely heal what ails us. Who knows, maybe the chronic pain we are in has put us on the path of encountering Jesus in a way we never have. I wouldn’t want to cheat us of that.

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