Calloused?

(For the audio version of this blog post, visit christywilliams.org)

One of the perks of nursing a baby is potentially burning an average of 500 extra calories a day. The mistake I made while nursing was not taking in extra calories to make up for the ones I burned. This resulted in significant weight loss. I noticed how uncomfortable it became to sit for even short periods of time. Then I realized I had a callus on my tailbone area. I went to the doctor who sent me to a specialist convinced it was some sort of ulcer that would need to be surgically removed. The specialist reviewed my history, noticed the notes about weight loss probably enhanced by nursing, took one look at the “ulcer” and confirmed that no surgery was needed. Fat was needed. Yes, fat! Come to find out, what I had was damaged skin due to pressure created upon sitting. I’d lost so much weight that when I sat down, I was literally sitting on my tail bone. There was not enough muscle and fat to provide cushion. The very thin skin covering the tail bone had been broken and was now scabbed over but would get reinjured every time sitting occurred. If I’d eat more and exercise the right muscles, I’d develop something to absorb some of the shock the tail bone was experiencing. Who would have thought, right!!

Well, I followed the doctor’s orders and began to replace the calories I was burning and I have indeed noticed a difference.  The fat and muscle are back! Thank God! (kinda)

Just like ingesting a proper amount of food is important for our physical bodies, investing a proper amount of time in God’s Word is important for our spiritual growth. But, oftentimes it feels like we have so much to do we don’t have time to pray and read our Bibles and just be in His presence. Not all of us feel as Martin Luther did. His thought was, “I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.” Wow! Perhaps, he understood that when we take on more days filled with more tasks and don’t add on more Word, we burn stores of wisdom and lose the guidance we need to make godly moves and carry out His will. We end up calloused and in great discomfort.

The world we live in is filled with the good, the bad, and the ugly. Some may argue, there is more of the latter! Therefore, we need something to absorb some of the shock we experience on this side of Glory. That something is the Word of God. Yes, the Word! Jeremiah 15:16 puts it this way: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight . . .”

Do you want the callouses to heal? Try the joy and delight found in the Bible.

His Word is served. Enjoy.