What You Can Learn About Yourself From An ACL Tear?

After 4 different doctors & an MRI, I finally got the truth…

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I wish I could say it happened as I was running from rebels after preaching the Gospel in a closed country. But the truth is it happened in Senegal while playing basketball with some missionaries I went to visit. It wasn’t even a great play, just jumping up for a rebound that I missed.

But, the whole thing got me wondering… What lesson might the Lord be showing me by allowing such a significant injury to happen in such an insignificant way?

I was completely unprepared for the unexpected and convicting insight I received..

Here’s the rest of the story…

I could tell by the level of pain and freaky instability that this was no ordinary sprain. So I went to urgent care when I got back and got it checked.The doc took an x-ray, pronounced me fine and told me to follow up with my primary care doc. I followed up with him and he sent me to an occupational medicine doc who twisted, pulled, pushed and flexed my knee in every conceivable way and also pronounce me fine and ordered a month of physical therapy – just for good measure.

I obediently went to PT for a month all the time sensing that there was still something wrong. After 4 weeks and no improvement they finally sent me to an Orthopedic Sports Medicine doctor. He examined me and said my problem was most likely a torn meniscus and ordered an MRI to confirm. Lo and behold, when the results came back the diagnosis was a torn ACL!

When I finally sat down with a surgeon (four months after the injury), I asked him why had 3 competent, well educated doctors had all misdiagnosed my condition. He responded with something I’ll never forget. He said, “Your knee has gotten so good at compensating for the broken part that even the experts can’t tell what’s really going on deep inside.”

That’s when the lesson hit me…_

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“We can get so good at compensating for our brokenness that no one can really tell what’s going on deep inside of us anymore!”

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The Surgeon went on to say…

I had the option of NOT having surgery and JUST LIVING WITH the problem. He said I would gradually learn to avoid all the high impact sports I love, begin to accept new limitations and ultimately function at a much lower level that I was designed to. OR I could have the surgery, which was very painful and came with a demanding 9 month recovery. If I endured the pain, put in the work, and got it fixed my knee would be as good as new, maybe even a little better.

It made me wonder…

How many of us are walking around with significant brokenness deep inside our hearts? Maybe we’ve gotten so good at compensating for our issues (secret sins, unspoken fears, unforgiveness & bitterness) that even the experts can’t tell what’s going on deep inside of us. We probably don’t even know what it is — we can just tell that it is something serious that causes a freaky instability. Maybe we’ve opted out of God’s surgery because of the necessary pain, demanding recovery and the long time involved in getting better. Maybe we’ve backed away form the high impact ministry we love, have accepted new limitations and are functioning at a much lower level that we were designed to function.

What about you?

Have you gotten so good at compensating for your brokenness that no one really knows what’s going on deep inside?

• Let the Holy Spirit do an MRI on your heart and show you what’s really going on (Ps. 139:23-24)
• Sit down with the Surgeon of your soul and talk to Him about the options and consequences (James 1:5)
• Make a courageous decision to address the issue and get it fixed. Even though it will hurt and take time to heal, you’ll be stronger as a result (Rom. 5:1-5)