“6 So then, being always filled with good courage and confident hope, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight [living our lives in a manner consistent with our confident belief in God’s promises”
II Corinthians 5:6-7 AMP
In Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians he continues to share the purpose of his ministry and encourages the church.
The word walk in greek is "Peripateo" (per-ee-pat-eh'-o) means to
journey
to make one's way
to conduct one's life
As a person who is inspired and motivated by nature, I find great joy in walking outdoors. Since retiring my legs and feet from running, I have learned I can achieve some of the same goals with walking. In addition to providing me with great physical activity, it is a powerful time of prayer and meditation. I can easily walk in peace and commune with God for an hour and cover miles take in beautiful greenery and streams. It gives me something to look forward to, especially early Sunday mornings. I will admit it is an important part of my day.
Now imagine my disappointment when I suddenly suffered a case of severe plantar fasciitis.
It was one Saturday evening after lounging around my sister friend's pool . What I thought was supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation ended in me hopping and tippy toeing to my car. At first I thought it was nothing. When at rest all was well but the moment I attempted to walk, it felt like a needle being plunged into my heel. There was no relief and so I headed to the Emergency room. The ER is a place I have been blessed to have NEVER visited as a patient, so I will admit there was some anxiety. As I exited my car and made my way to the door, a young man saw me hopping and grunting and commanded me to stop. Five minutes later he returned with a wheelchair and my pride reared its head. "You think I need a wheelchair?" "Uhhh yes ma'am you do". I surrendered to wisdom and he wheeled me in and exactly one hour and thirty minutes I was told by the doctor
"You have plantar fasciitis?"
"Okayyy?"
"Well it's when that thick band that runs across the bottom of your becomes inflamed"
"Okayyy so what can you do ?"
"Ohh this is common in runners, etc , etc ,etc
"Okay so what are WE going to do?"
"Well I am going to give you some literature with examples of some good exercises and treatment you can do at home"
"Okay that's it"
"Yeah pretty much"
Needless to say I was NOT happy. I was out of $100 and I exited in a wheelchair with the same level of pain if not more. I was angry and disappointed for sure but my trust in God assured me better days were coming at least this is what I said inside of my head.
I returned home, rested in bed but I have to tell you, some extremely pitiful thoughts began to invade my mind.
"What if I really broke my foot?"
"What if I can't walk like I used to walk?"
"What if this plantar fasciitis takes months to heal"
"What if I need surgery?"
After wrestling over those thoughts, I vividly recalled statements shared when others experience challenges ; "Well the least you can do is pray" or "Just pray and it will be alright". I knew that when I submitted mine to God that it was the best thing to do but NOT the only thing. My prayers needed activation through my own efforts. The next day I awoke for my 5 am prayer call and requested prayers from my intercessory team. My prayer partner Asia prayed a Powerful PRAYER that encouraged me and immediately "Walk by Faith "became my mantra.
Throughout the day I pressed through pain and when I did my knees buckled with excruciating pain. Honestly, there were lots of tears and fear. Still I was convinced that ‘this too shall pass”. I canceled the negative thoughts inside of my head with appropriate and positive speech, motivating myself to persevere, just walk through the pain and rest.
One step at a time. I envisioned myself walking slowly and carefully. Three days later, after much rest, ice foot baths, special socks at night and stretching, I prepared myself for work and walked through the door with confidence. What happened? My thoughts shifted and so did my words. They became a powerful tool that enabled me to “Walk by Faithful” and for that I am so thankful.