Escape From Sciatica

By Kevin M. Kraft

“You know, Lord,” I said during a casual chat with God. “I really hope I don’t develop some chronic physical condition that leaves me in constant pain or inhibits my ability to move freely.”

The next day I pulled a muscle in my hip, or so I thought. I was exercising as usual, performing leg lifts, a holdout exercise from my high school football days – great for developing strong abdominal muscles – when I felt the pull. I thought no problem, as I had felt similar things before. Eventually it’ll go away and I’ll be as good as new.

But it didn’t go away. In fact, treating it like a minor muscle pull exacerbated it.

One day when I got up, I suddenly found myself on the floor bracing against walls and gripped in the absolute worst pain I could have ever imagined possible. I had developed a severe case of sciatica: inflammation of the sciatic nerve. In my case, a bulging vertebrae clamping down on the nerve and debilitating the lower left side of my body from my hip down through my feet caused it.

The pain at its worst was like lightning blasting through my leg, only slightly less severe – no, that wasn’t true, it was just different – It felt more like my left foot was immersed in lava. My body bent over and twisted, as it compensated for the injury. I, a physically fit man in my forties, became debilitated. Welcome to Sciatica.

My first reaction, other than “AUGH!” was not to rally against God or curse Him for allowing this challenge in my life. Nor did I simply wait for God to reveal some big truth to me during this dark journey. In the midst of my Sciatica affliction, I was interested in what God wanted me to learn, do or discern.

When the worst of the initial pain subsided, I found myself disabled. I was unable to sit, stand or lie down (even to sleep) for extended periods of time. I was hard-pressed to find any relief. During my stay at home on medical leave I found myself useless, sleepless and lame. The simplest tasks were impossible for me.

During my recovery I saw firsthand what my wife, a stay-at-home mom, did to manage our home and four children. Adding to her numerous tasks, was carting me to medical professionals, setting appointments and securing the many pharmaceuticals prescribed for my recovery.

She also looked after my personal care, assisted me in exercising what muscles I could to prevent atrophy and she never once uttered a complaint. I was amazed. I couldn’t have done what she did. With all the added responsibilities, the tiring and stressful workload, she somehow managed it all faithfully with pure devotion and love.

Her life inspired me.

And, she inspired my kids as well. Each of my four kids took up the slack, doing more than what was required of them, especially my two eldest. I was proud of them all!

I was humbled by their service of love.

In fact, during my recovery I was humbled many times as I fought to bring my rebellious body back under my command. Whereas, I never doubted my ability to take care of myself, I now felt vulnerable, off-balanced and unsafe. It was hard to have always been in top shape and suddenly find myself in a body like that of an old man. I had to trust in God, my wife and the kids.

In all her wisdom, my wife reminded me during the slow and agonizing journey back from Sciatica that my strength and safety comes from the Lord alone.

As I write this, four months after landing in Sciatica, I’m about at 75% capacity. My back is largely straight, thank God, yet I still work to regain the strength I had before. Pain still besets me enough to warrant a case, but I’m managing a greatly reduced number of pain medications. Things improved to the point where I’ve returned to work.

I was the recipient of several other wonderful changes along with my improved health. Circumstances allowed me to work the night shift, giving me the opportunity to be with my family during the bulk of their waking hours. And, I feel wonderful after having my family walk together through the crisis. I am a blessed man to have such a precious family.

Today, my family not only blesses me, but I also learned to appreciate them for who they are – A valuable lesson from God. You can imagine that I’m now even more active in communicating to my wife just how much I love and appreciate everything she is and what she does for me and the kids. Bless you, Sharon, and thank you for your love and faithfulness to me!