Massage Expertise

A couple of nights ago at dinner, my dad was talking about the massage therapist who had been working on some numbness in his arm. I found it really interesting that she encouraged him to massage certain parts of his arm and shoulder, but to avoid working on parts of his neck himself. There are, she explained, certain places where you could do some damage to yourself (like your carotid arteries) by applying too much pressure without knowing what you're doing. "Leave it to the experts," was her conclusion.

I was thinking this morning about God's strong hand upon us (in terms of massages, none of that wimpy stuff for me -- I want a massage therapist with strong hands!). If God were a massage therapist, he would be one of those who sometimes makes you so relaxed you fall asleep on the table. Other times, he works you over so hard that you're left breathless and can't do much for the rest of the day except go home and take some aspirin. But you know that it's ultimately good pain! His wise fingers know how to find the knots, those points of tension -- sometimes unknown even to us (like the ones Beth found in my butt and hamstrings last week) -- that are adversely affecting how well our bodies function. If he were to press too hard, he would do some serious damage; if he were to not use enough pressure, he wouldn't actually be doing us any good.

So the conclusion is to let his strong hand of love do its thing -- God is the expert at "soul" massage therapy!