What God Taught Me During Recovery
After weeks of surgery, swelling, sleepless nights, and learning patience the hard way, I went back to the surgeon this week hoping for good news.
In my mind, I had already pictured the moment.
The cast would come off. A walking boot would go on. I would be one big step closer to normal… and an hour-long shower.
Instead, the surgeon smiled and said he was pleased with how things were healing—but instead of a boot, he wanted me in a walking cast for four more weeks.
Not exactly what I had pictured.
But then, he said something that stayed with me:
“You can begin putting weight on it.”
That sounded encouraging—until I actually tried…
The first step felt weird.
Awkward.
Clunky.
My ankle may be healing, but my mind still has to learn to trust it.
And, somewhere in that awkward first step, I felt like God was teaching me something deeper.
Most of us imagine healing as a straight line:
Pain… treatment… recovery… back to normal.
But, real healing rarely works that way.
Sometimes there is progress, but not as quickly as we hoped.
Sometimes the cast comes off… and another cast goes on.
Sometimes you are healing, but you are not finished.
Paul reminds us in Philippians 1:6:
“He who has begun a good work in you will complete it…”
Just because you’re not there yet doesn’t mean God has stopped working.
The surgeon told me I could begin putting weight on my ankle.
But, knowing I could and actually doing it were two very different things.
Every instinct wanted to protect what had been hurt.
That is not just an ankle story.
That is life.
After pain, it can be hard to trust again.
After disappointment, it can be hard to step again.
Maybe you know what that feels like.
Sometimes God calls us to take a step before we feel fully ready.
Not a leap.
Just a step.
Awkward.
Uncertain.
A little clunky.
But, a step nonetheless.
The psalmist reminds us in Psalms 37:23–24:
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord… Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
That verse hits differently when you are literally learning how to take a step again.
The surgeon also reminded me that some of what I was experiencing—purple toes, throbbing at night, discomfort along the way—was normal.
That struck me too.
Pain doesn’t always mean something is wrong.
Sometimes it means healing is still underway.
James reminds us in James 1 that trials produce perseverance, and perseverance has a work to do in us.
If I’m honest, that may be the real lesson in all of this.
Not simply learning to trust my ankle.
Learning to trust God in the process.
This week, the cast came off… and another one went on.
Recovery takes time.
Trust takes time.
And sometimes faith doesn’t look like a giant leap.
Sometimes it looks like one awkward step.
Sometimes it looks like putting a little weight on what God is healing…
…and trusting Him with the next step.
