Just mention "chronic back pain" and you've got immediate friends, each with a tale to tell of one of the most common complaints in our world today! I will never forget my very first visit to a chiropractor several years ago. I had heard horror storIes of how they sit on you and crack you from top to bottom--and I was petrified! The poor doctor had to calm my nerves, relax and reassure me before he could ever work on me! It's funny now--but it wasn't then! AND YOUR story may be "funnier or sadder or sicker" than mine! Sometimes back pain can be excrutiating and cause many difficulties. Thank God for modern medicine, neurosurgeons--and ok, chiropractors too (grin!)--who do provide relief and help for all of our achin' backs....EXCEPT...

Ever carry a load of burdens too heavy for you? Ever try to carry your family--or the whole world--on your shoulders? Now that's a kind of backache no pain pill can help and no doctor can cure...except Doctor Jesus! So If you've got THAT kind of an "achin' back" today, come with me to the Well--I heard that Doctor Jesus will see us all--and there's no charge!!

A Helping Word...or Two!

Personal Overloads Cause Achin' Backs!

OK, let's be honest. Do you know ANYONE, including yourself, who is NOT on personal overload? No stress in life--and you're dead! Stress is part of our daily living--it's how we cope with it that counts. And some days we don't cope too well. Why? Because we are trying to carry it all by ourselves--and it's too heavy. We worry about personal things--our appearance, our weight, our age, our health, our love life or marriage, our spiritual life, our personal life, whether we're having fun or not, whether we're accepted or not, on and on--and by the time we add up all the personal worries (we haven't GOTTEN to the family ones yet...hold on!), we are bent over, burdened down, and broken up--emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually. So what to do?

I've got the answer--no, I KNOW the Answer. His Name is Jesus, and He wants us to bring our personal overloads to the Cross. It's that simple--let it go, lay it down, and let His love soothe and calm your tired, worn-out spirit. You need rest, HIS rest, and He offers it to you today! Take it--and your back will feel SO much better! (And, after all, don't you think HE can handle YOU better than you can, anyway??)

Family Overloads Cause Achin' Backs!

OK, let's be honest again. Do you know ANYONE, including yourself, who does NOT have a family problem or concern of some sort? Only the family members who are in heaven, I would guess--where there is no pain, hurt, strife, anxiety or tears. Christians and non-Christians carry heavy loads of family responsibilities and concerns. You may be a parent, or a caregiver of parents or grandchildren; you may be one of those "sports or music moms" traveling the road as a taxi service for kids; you may have the devastation of divorce or illness or unresolved angers and hurts OR the Lord-knows-what in your family, and you're trying to carry it all. You can't--it's backbreaking, and it will kill you....So what to do??

The same thing you just did with your personal overload--bring it to the Cross, let it go, lay it down, and let HIM take care of the family concerns. They're too big and too hard for you; you don't have all the answers, and it's not working--that's obvious. You're tired, bent out of shape, and exhausted. AND the Lord knows that. Let Him carry the load today--He WILL, if you'll let Him--and that back will feel SO much better! (And, after all, don't you think He can handle your family better than you can, anyway??)

World Overloads Cause Achin' Backs!

Now it's honesty time for those in the Lord's service. Do you know ANY true servant of the Lord, including yourself, who does not try to carry the whole world on their shoulders--the burdens of a congregation, a community, a world that's sick and needing desperate attention? God's servants are truly burdened today, for when they sincerely care as a shepherd for their flock, the worries, concerns, problems and difficulties are back-breaking! Daily, weekly, yearly, the stress never ends. Everyone is so needy--but STOP! You can't carry everyone on that human back of yours! You weren't meant to, and by the way, you can't save the world--that Jesus' job! You'll burn out and break down, if you're not there already.....and it's time to give it up! No, not the ministry--but the burden....So what to do?

The same thing you tell your congregation to do--bring it to the Cross, let it go, lay it down, and let HIM take care of your congregation and your world's concerns. Of course, it's too big for one person to handle, and you were not meant to carry all the burdens of all the people, all the time! Jesus Christ loves your congregation and your world more than you do--believe it, and give it all to Him! That back will feel SO much better! (And, after all, don't you think He can handle your congregation better than you can, anyway??)

Achin' backs need lots of rest, a little guided exercise, and lots of loving care. And if that's where you are today, you need to make a trip to Calvary, just as Pilgrim in the classic Pilgrim's Progress. Lay that load down at the foot of the cross, then pause a minute to listen to GODLY advice. He may tell you to take more breaks, to go on a vacation, to find some help, to take more time for yourself--or your family. He may direct you to some good books or praise-and-worship tapes, or even an exercise program! He may nudge you gently to stop the hectic pace, to slow down and smell the roses...after all, you'd rather SMELL them now, than have them placed around a casket where you CAN'T smell them, right? Morbid thought, but Lord, help us all to help ourselves--to practically consider ways to maintain a caring heart--but still retain some good common sense!

And with all those words of wisdom which I write for you--AND for ME (grin!), I've got one more practical suggestion--go walk around the block a couple of times--WITHOUT that heavy load--and your back will feel SO much better!

...and that's just a word or two from my achin' back to yours!

His Healing Words

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee;
he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved (Psalm 55:22 KJV)."

"Lord, I'm carrying a heavy load--my back is breaking. YOUR back was broken that You might carry the world....and I thank You for Your loving care for us all. Lord, I lay down my own heavy burdens at the Cross....I need thy rest and thy restoration this day, and I pledge to obey thy Word. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Featured sites

Take time to smell the ROSES!

Pilgrim's Progress - The New Amplified Version

View Atlas with the world on his shoulders
--from Greek mythology

Back Pain--WellWeb.com

Chronic Back Pain--WebMD.com

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