No More ‘Pain in the Neck’

I could probably write every one of my posts each week sharing about an experience from substitute teaching. Maybe that means it’s just that entertaining at times or there are an endless amount of life lessons offered when I’m at the schools.

Just yesterday I was teaching p.e. again and we were in an intense game of line tag when a little brown haired gal (cute as ever) quickly but cautiously made her way to me. She was holding her neck with both hands and the words that poured from her panicked voice were this:

“My neck is hurting and I can’t move it!! It hurts really bad!!”

She paused for a few seconds and seemed to examine my expression and then without wasting another moment she dramatically blurted out, “I think it’s broke! I think my neck is broken!!”

Side-note: You guys here’s why I shouldn’t be allowed to adult most days because for a half a second I entertained the idea; I was like “oh shoot what if it actually is!?”

I’m a bit sensitive about neck injuries ever since my dad’s dirt bike racing accident that left him a quadriplegic, so I’m gonna give myself the benefit of a fair excuse.

I gathered myself and asked her what happened and if she could turn her neck slowly from side to side. I’m assuming she must have strained her neck a bit when she was running and that was the cause. Calmly and rationally we made ‘headway’ and determined her neck was in fact still intact and she’d be alright. After the reassurance, off she ran for more line tag just like that!!

Boy can I ever relate to the symbolic storyline of that whole deal when I compare it to the things I’ve freaked out about throughout different stages of life.

I was a skilled self-diagnosed hypochondriac for years…worrying about anything from my children’s health to well-being, to what people thought of me, to finances, to my premature gray hair which by the way was probably multiplying rapidly because of my worrying…the list “went” on…

And quite frankly it all made up my own definition of a pain in the neck.

I’ve come so far away from those worries…except my soon-to-be-sixteen-year-old driving in a few months…that one I’m still working on letting Jesus take the wheel entirely. I’m getting closer with this too though!

After reflecting on the “broken neck” scene from yesterday and because of the over the top drama I laugh just a smidge and it causes me to ask one question…

How many of our worries are all done in vain?

As I’ve looked back and taken inventory over how God has seen me through my trials, I’ve noticed that not one of the things I’ve ever given worry to have actually prevailed. Ever! The odds of victory are in God’s favor. They’re not for me to chase!

Some of the very first verses that I memorized when I came to faith and realized God’s word is the answer in all situations were on the topic of overcoming worry:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:6

Give all your worries and your cares to God for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7

Those, among a few others, were such a blessing of truth and still speak to me today when I tend to wander away from practicality.

Just like I had to comfort that young fretting sweetie in my p.e. class yesterday during our game, God is always available and willing to do the same for us, no matter the amount of physical or emotional pain we struggle with. He’s a Perfect Healer and we can find relief from our burdens through worship, fellowship with other believers, prayer, and reading His word!

Tag, you’re it!! Let’s not waste any more time in unproductive worry when there’s so much more to life! To Him be the glory!!

Author: alimw2013

About For His Purpose~ My name is Alicia and I'm a thirty-something year old who loves Jesus. Only through God’s amazing grace and mercy I have been redeemed from past regret and shame. Reading His word has allowed me to look past Satan’s forceful lies, to see myself for who Christ says I am in Him. Through writing I have learned why I made the choices I made in my younger years and I now have a better understanding of why I desire to love God like crazy these days. Despite my daily failures, God remains faithful always. I am reassured of His unconditional love for me by every ink-drop spilled out on paper, each committed prayer as I cry out to Him, and deep understanding reflected through reading His word as truth. Yes keeping a blog will make me vulnerable to others’ opinions- there will be some who don’t understand, some who may criticize or judge, but on the other hand if just one piece expressed through my writing grabs someone’s attention and directs them to God, then pouring out my heart in a blog for the world to read is worth it. I choose to glorify Him alone through words streaming across a glowing screen. And it wouldn’t be fair if I didn’t reveal the fact that I’m incredibly quirky; I’m my loving husband’s best friend, my vivacious kids’ craziest cheerleader and spiritual trainer (3 John 1:4). I love anything farmhouse and rustic style. I think cupping a warm coffee mug in the palm of my hands is more satisfying than the contents within. I share a common obsession with my husband for the mountains, but I would (without a doubt) settle for waves crashing against my legs at the Atlantic Ocean just as well, and I almost always have a Yorkie curled up on my lap while writing. *All photos are photographed by forhispurpose.blog and therefore may not be stored or photocopied in any manner.

32 thoughts on “No More ‘Pain in the Neck’”

  1. Great post sis. God help us! Our negative experiences can cause us to worry, but worry is costly. Worry makes us feel in control, but we actually lose control when we worry.
    Your student is blessed to have you. ❤

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  2. So true. Even tho we have had a lot of bad things happen to us we have not surprised God or found hi fretting. our 39 year old spina-bifida daughter has learned this verse as well through 35 surgeries and has a super mind in a non working body. 100 years from now it’s all good…perspective and giving all to God makes it all good.

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  5. Such a great reminder and message Ali. I definitely need the reminder not to worry when it feels like I’m so stuck and nothing seems to be working. This was a cute story too. It made me smile. Thanks. Blessings to you and yours. ❤❤❤❤

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  6. This is a great and encouraging analogy. Man, I know that I can be a pain in the neck to God but He is always so patient and kind to me, like you were with that sweet girl. I sure am thankful for that, and thankful that God handles all my worries with love. Blessings, my friend!

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    1. Yes I’m sure God has wanted to give me an exhausted eye roll a time or two😂 thankfully He’s full of unconditional patience like you mentioned! Thanks for reading Patty! I always enjoy your comments ❤️

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  7. Don’t we blow things out of perspective starting with the little folks right on up?
    It would be a good exercise to write all these false reports down and how things turned out in the end. Such as — I thought my neck was broken to it wasn’t broken at all! Then date it. So later, when we get hit with another crazy but very real situation, we could go back and look at all the things we worried about that never happened. Or how God brought us through it.
    Honestly, I am thinking I should do this because when I start to worry I lose all sense of perspective. It would help to take a few minutes to remember God’s faithfulness written down in a journal.

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    1. Yes Lena!! I read the book ‘Get out of Your Head’ by Jennie Allen last year and she actually has her readers do this idea- write down the major concern in a bubble (mine was discontent) then branch out from there every thing that is causing that concern and individually write out each of those things in a bubble.. so some of mine that I listed were camper and subbing…off to the side of camper I wrote “will it sell?” and then to the side of subbing “will I get sub days with covid being a problem?”
      I looked at my paper the other day and put a star next to camper because it sold less than a month after advertising it and then subbing I put a star next to because my calendar has been filled with days…4 of my 5 concerns I’ve starred and the 5th one is my daughter’s driving, surely my trust will build and I’ll be adding another star soon…sorry long comment but I thought of how well this pairs up with what you described!

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      1. No problem with long comment! Thank you for describing how actually handled these concerns. I appreciate you taking the time to explain it to me. Thank-you. I will try it. 😊

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  9. Oops … but send too soon. I meant to add that I worry it is something worse but I’ve gone through this before and it does seem to be hormone related and things do get better. I’ve been trying to stay calm during this round it it and trust that God will get me through even if I feel like a waste of space because I am too tired to do anything.

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    1. Prayer comes to mind..and maybe you already do this but I keep thinking if you spend those restless sleep times offering up just simple little prayers, “Lord help me right now”…”help me rest in you” etc.

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  12. I soooo needed to hear this! Lately my worries have almost taken over everything! I worry about every single little thing! I even worry about things that “might happen” in the future even though I know I have no control over those things. I’m going to carry this verse around with me so that I can look at it every time another worry pops up.

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  13. This brought back memories of my subbing days. I think a lot of the things that happened then were the kids’ seeing what kind of things (and how much) would get a reaction from me. I definitely needed to pray for discernment to be sympathetic when compassion was called for

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    1. That makes sense!!
      They try and push buttons at times, subbing is definitely not for the faint of heart and I feel it’s safe to say it gets worse by the year! Praying discernment is truly important in the game of substitute teaching!

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