What Pain Makes You Think About.

I knew from the beginning that there was going to be a risk of injury in training for a half-marathon and a marathon.  So I have been diligent to keep a watchful eye for shin splints, which come from increasing mileage too fast.

Last week involved an 8 mile run, which I bumped up a day to Friday , following a 4 mile Thursday run.  At about mile 6, I noticed some soreness in the back of my left calf.  But it was tolerable, and I attributed it to muscle soreness.  No big reason for concern.  We helped some friends move on Saturday, and I did a short 3 mile run on Sunday.  Monday was a scheduled day off.

I knew I couldn't run after work on Tuesday, so at 6:30 a.m., after a cup of coffee, I set out for an easy 3 mile run.  I was thinking of the song "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman.  I had just been discussing a 3 beat drum part with the worship leader of our church, and had the song in my mind.  At the end of the first mile, the pain in the back of my calf started to increase, and in about the next 3 steps, it increased to the intensity of a cramp, and brought me to a wincing stop.

I debated as to whether it was actually a cramp.  But cramps are usually accompanied by a sensation of the muscle tightening and pulling. There was none of that.  It let up some, and I continued walking, thinking I could walk it off.

When I was certain it wasn't a cramp but most likely a pull,  I did what all good Christians do, and began to talk to the Good Lord about my injured leg.  "Lord, this is a good thing I'm doing, isn't it?  I just did ponder on the idea that my body is made for marathon running.  And I'm doing it.  But apparently I screwed up, and I would appreciate it if you would take care of this leg, even though I brought on this injury myself."  Often prayer is an effort to convince God why He should do what you want Him to do, and to get rescued from your own stupidity.

Nothing much to speak of happened. I kept walking through about the 2nd mile, and was able to run gingerly most of the last mile.

A quick self-diagnosis via the all-knowing internet revealed that I most likely have a "grade 1 calf strain" meaning that "the muscle is stretched causing some small micro tears in the muscle fibers.  Full recovery takes approximately two weeks."  (About.com Sports Medicine)  Running that last mile... not smart.
  
Geez.  This is going to wreak havoc with my training schedule.  I'm supposed to get in a 9, a 10, and another 8 mile run in the next three weeks before the half-marathon.  Not sure that is even a possibility now.  Even if after a week of rest the leg is good, you're supposed to ease back into your routine. 

While I was trying to walk off the pain, the whole question of why God answers some prayers and not others came to mind.  Admittedly, this particular situation rates in the negative numbers on the scale of importance, but the principle is true nonetheless.  I knew the answer to why God did not heal my leg instantaneously, but sometimes the answer isn't so clear.

The crux of the issue is that God doesn't seem to often intervene into the natural course of events.  He lets lots of things just happen.  In this case, when I run too much too soon, I risk injury.  Anyone would say that the appropriate response from God in that situation would be to let me get what I deserve.

But sometimes God does intervene despite a lack of good sense.  Perhaps the best example of this is what Christians call "salvation".  We believe that despite the fact we have failed and will continue to fail as the human beings we were created to be, we are nevertheless forgiven and put to good use because we accept the work of Christ. There are endless stories of men and women who, had they continued on the path they were on, would have led lives of waste and destruction.  God stepped into their situations and changed the natural course of events.  These people will tell you that it was not a superhuman effort on their parts to alter the course of their lives, but rather they cried out to God, and were snatched off one path, and put on another.  But even in these situations, the believer often finds that his life is changed in some areas, yet in others, he continues to struggle, his pleas to God for deliverance ignored.

A very common situation that most have experienced is a plea for God to alter an everyday situation - difficult financial circumstances, trouble in a relationship, issues our children experience.  We ask God for help.  Sometimes He does, but sometimes He seems to ignore what we desire.

And then there are the stories of events which God apparently stepped into and altered the natural course.  They are often situations which can be attributed to good luck, but the believer attributes them to the hand of God.  Healings fall into this category.  Generally, God seems to ignore requests for outright miraculous healings, and the claims of such healings sometimes seem questionable. 

These are just a few of the types of things in which God operates in a way that is difficult to understand.  The problem arises due to the fact that we don't know when God will intervene, and when He won't.  This is perhaps the most difficult aspect about faith.  The real test comes when God is silent in situations we think He should intervene.  Bad things happening to good people through no fault of their own is the classic example.

What God does and does not do is His prerogative.  And the essence of faith is that the believer chooses to accept that premise.  Sure, he occasionally questions God's choices.  That's only human.

But in the end, faith says "I don't know what God knows.  And if He can live with His decision, then I'll trust Him to make me live with it as well."

Like I've said before, there is almost always a larger point.