Spiritual Re-alignment

Having a recurring lower back injury has created a vital relationship with my chiropractor. Seriously, if I have to choose between my mortgage payment or being relieved of back pain, there is no choice. He is that wonderful--or at least the relief from pain is. He realigns me. Realignment is by definition: "to put back in proper order." Under his attention and guiding force, I go from leaning over, simulating a performance of the children's song "I'm a little teapot," to straightened up, looking above, and "pouring out." My pain is relieved; my tension is reduced; my performance is renewed.

My back is a metaphor of my life. Sometimes, I am bent over, tensed up, and focused more on the pain than on the joy. That is when worship changes me. Worship is a visit to our Spiritual Chiropractor. Worship realigns me.

This principle of being realigned through worship permeates Scripture. Jesus declared it as the first principle when praying. "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name...". Paul's letters often begin with worship. These words place our focus on things above--not on these interim bumps and bruises. Phrases like "God our Savior" and "Lord Jesus Christ "(remember that Lord and Christ are titles--not first and last names) are his opening words. They remind us that He gives salvation and relief from the pain.

Does worship change the situation? Sometimes, but not always. My back disc that is torn does not get "untorn" in the doctor's office. Instead the focus or, eminent attention of my nerves, is shifted from the injured area by moving the spine. That is what worship does. It shifts our focus from the pain to the Presence. Worship removes our focus from the pressures that cause pain and straightens us up. The situation is not changed--We are.

Besides allowing relief from pain and tension, realignment brings greater focus, strength and power. According to research done by the Global Healing Center, realignment boosts immunity, builds endurance, and increases performance. As it is in chiropractic care, so it is in worship.

I come to God, allowing Him and asking Him to reshape my spiritual nervous system. Worship lifts me out of my own world view and enlarges my understanding of the One who made the world, my world, and me. It renews my strength and builds my endurance. Worship gives me His strength and His power. When I leave my doctor's office, I have exchanged pain for the power to persevere. When I worship, I get up and I have exchanged my pain for His presence. True Realignment.

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"The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous." Ps 146:8

"But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. " Is 40:31

"Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power." Ephesians 6:10