Several weeks ago my son was at the High Point Racetrack at Mount Morris, Pa.  He was practicing for the state championship series, and was very happy with the pace he was setting as the day was starting.  Already wrapping up the 250cc championship at our local Latrobe Raceway Supercross track, he set his sights on the motocross track the pros ride.  All the hopes of a great series came crashing to an end when he did, coming up short on a triple jump. He didn’t even realize the damage that was done and picked the bike right up to continue.  Then he noticed his arm wouldn’t “work” anymore. Sometimes pain doesn’t hit right away.  Almost breaking through the skin, his radius was broken and his wrist ligaments injured.  Looking at him, I could clearly see how badly this break was. There was nothing straight about it.

            We went to Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh and were admitted into the ER.  They made short work of X-rays and diagnosing the problem.  The trouble was that it was broken so badly and in an odd place that they couldn’t correctly set the bone.  I sent the X-ray photo to friends and family who were praying for my boy.  They too were shocked.  He was in total agony as they continued to try to get the two pieces of bone in place. Two full grown men pulled in opposite directions with everything they had, but were not strong enough to pull his wrist end far enough away from the elbow end to get the break line to properly meet. The fracture was unable to be correctly set. It was too much to me to watch, and his pain was almost enough to make him pass out.  Surgery would be required, something he really didn’t have the time for as a teenager bent on getting the rest of the state championship season completed.  

            On September 11 he had a plate installed and nine pins put in place to allow things to heal straight.  He would not be allowed to bend his elbow or rotate his wrist until cleared from the surgeon.  As post-operating recovery went on, a lot of pain, time, doctor visits, and patience was needed for an almost 17 year old boy.  His patience ran short.  Frustrations climbed.  The moments of intense pain seemed to be more than he could take, and the sleepless nights of trying to go to bed with your arm in a 90 degree bend enclosed in a foam cheese block ticked by like eternity passing. Tempted many times to take shortcuts in the healing process, I heard every argument under the sun as to why he didn’t need to listen to the doctor’s orders. “If you want to have issues with your arm for the rest of your life, then go right ahead and take the splint off,” I would tell him sarcastically.  He would grumble about how I didn’t really know anything and wander off in disappointment that I wouldn’t give in to his discomfort.  Parents don’t know much to a teenager sometimes. It was a frustrating time for both of us, as I wouldn’t budge on doctor’s orders and made him listen to post op instructions.

            Six weeks later, we heard the doctor tell us the fabulous news.  “Your arm is healed as well as it could possibly be.”  What a consolation!  There would be no real long-term issues to his accident.  Sucking it up for a short period of discomfort proved to pay big dividends in the end.  I was relieved as a dad that my son would not be suffering with a crippled right hand and he would be able to begin using his arm now.  It was music to my ears.  I came home with him and he raced right outside.  I began to contemplate things that evening.

            Looking at this situation, I realized several insightful things.

            For those of you who have had deep wounds in life (maybe even more so emotional and psychological), being placed on injured reserve is no fun.  The pain and discomfort may seem like it will never end.  The sleepless nights may be stacking up like a monument of unwanted trophies piled all the way up to the sky.  It might seem like you are going nowhere, gaining nothing, and healing little.  Things might be so frustrating that you are ready to give up, throw in the towel, and take your “splint” off.  Tempting, huh?  If you take the easy way out, what are the consequences you would face? Could it be possible that you might be in a trail that would teach you big things in the end, possibly even life lessons of great worth, yet the pain and discomfort is so intense that you want to give in and settle for second best?  Would you suffer life long debilitating setbacks as a consequence of you giving in now?  Do you want to accept the short-term easy road and pass on the long-term benefit?  Nobody likes hardships.  Nobody likes pain. Nobody likes trials.  Nobody likes suffering.  But what would happen if you succeeded and finished the course?  Where could you be in the end?  My friend, I know it is hard, but never give up early.  The rewards of the endgame are very much worth any short-term sacrifice needed to get there.

            The second thing that comes to mind during these momentary seasons of hardship is this: we have a loving father who cares about our long-term health so earnestly that he tells us to simply keep the “splint” on.  Seriously, what kind of a father would say “I know things are difficult right now for you, so go ahead… take off the splint… risk having life long difficulties just because you are in pain right now?”  That sounds completely ridiculous, I know.  We would frown upon a father if he said that to a hurting son here on earth, yet we turn around and expect our heavenly Father to do exactly that. We expect God to sympathize with our “now” because it is too big in our eyes.  We can’t see past it, but God can.  We hate it, but He sees through it and can envision the hardship for our good.  Everything we have inside us wants to escape our situation… we might even beg and cry to God in the night to deliver us from such an awful moment of pain, but God in his goodness says “hang in there, you will thank me later.”  Simply put, I wouldn’t be a very good father if I gave in to my son’s demands.  Would we want anything less of our loving heavenly father?  I Peter 4:12-13 puts it well:

                  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

            Also I Peter 1:6-7 says this:

            In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

            Finally, there are times when hardships don’t really ever go away.  Will my son’s arm ever really be as good and strong as what it was before the accident?  Most likely it will not.  He was injured, badly, and without surgery he would of never had it straight again.  Some of us have been wounded in battle so deeply that we might never truly heal as well as we were before the hurt came.  He will always have the scar on his right forearm to remind him of what happened.  So there are also some of us who always will be reminded by scars of what have happened to us in the past.  As a loving father, I would want Bradley to remember this accident. I hope that he would not make the same mistake twice.  I hope he would be a better man by what he learned from this weakness.  I hope that he matures from it and becomes aware of what can happen when things go wrong… it will be for his good. There are some of you that have asked God so many times to free you from difficulty, hardship, and pain… only to hear a silent voice in return.  You might ask “Why?”  1 Corinthians 12:8-10 gives insight:

            Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

            So let us look inside for a moment.  What scars are defining (or refining) you? What hurt or injuries are you begging God to do something about when in reality He might be using it for both your benefit and His?  Do you have a scar on your heart?  What weakness is making you stronger in the end?  What weakness in your life does God so desperately desire to use for His glory and His pleasure?  I challenge you that instead of complaining about the situations we might face ourselves in, look for an opportunity for God to use our troubles and difficulties in big ways for His kingdom.  Are you complaining about wanting to take your “splint” off and the easy way out of a tough time?  Maybe God loves you enough to tell you to suck it up and tough it out.  He can see the end game a lot better than you can.  Trust Him. Temporary discomfort can bring eternal gain.

            Hang in there my friend.

By Chuck Carr