Jesus and my femur

I recently got back from my first "adult snowboarding trip" last week in over three years. (Because I'm always going with the church as a "responsible adult") Was I super excited that I didn't have to worry about anyone but myself for a change? Yes indeed.

So what happens? I collide with an 11-year-old boy on the last day and break my femur in my left left. The femur is the biggest bone in the body and arguably the toughest one to break. But as luck would have it, I defied the odds and snapped it clean in half.

This puts me on crutches for the next 6-8 weeks with months of physical therapy to follow. The best way to describe what I'm feeling? Helpless. Weak. Dependant. I HATE the feeling of not being able to do something on my own. I can't even put my socks on by myself! Luckily, I have a lovely wife that happily does this for me each morning. I think it's in our human nature to feel this way sometimes, frustrated that we need others to do things for us.

It makes me think about dependence. It makes me think about how much we either do or don't depend on others to help get us through the day.

It makes me think about how much we depend on God every day of our lives for things. These things are often asked for in prayer. We ask for forgiveness, healing, wisdom, patience, strength, and a whole bunch of other things. We depend on God so much for so many things.

And that's exactly how God wanted it to be.

Jesus explains this in John 15:5
"I am the vine and your are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

Jesus is saying that if we don't have a real relationship with Him, then this time here on earth isn't going to amount to much. You can't do anything worthwhile without Him.

So if you're trying to get through your days by simply believing in yourself, believing that you alone can handle anything and everything this life can throw at you, then I would say you are mistaken. We as mere humans can't possibly take on everything by ourselves. We simply weren't designed to be that strong. But through a relationship with Jesus Christ we are able to withstand anything. God is now the one taking the weight of this world on His shoulders so you don't have to.

Phillipians 4:13
"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

I pray that you too will see how being absolutely dependent on God for everything in your life is exactly the way He planned it. Now if only He could send me a pair of rocket-powered crutches...

Markonius L. Richards IV~