Dislocated Spirit?

Whatever had slipped out of joint in my jaw seems to be slipping back in joint. I had soup for lunch, and soft fish for dinner. I was starving for "real food," but my jaw was feeling a whole lot better. Several friends wrote with sage advice about how to deal with TMJD (for those of you lucky enough not to be afflicted with this, it is temporal-mandibular-joint disorder...or really hurty jaws at the point where the upper and lower hinge together.) Top advice: don't chew anything but mush. Second: Get a mouth guard.

I do wear a night mouth guard because most folks with TMJ are teeth clenchers and grinders. The mouth guard prevents us from doing damage to our jaws and our teeth. In periods of stress, we tend to clench and grind more....so it was not wise for me to not wear my mouth guard during the recent Las Vegas book signing trip. While that trip was fun, it was very stressful nonetheless. I was probably clenching my jaws like a bear trap all night during that week! So now, I am paying for it. I should have known better and worn my mouth guard. I just got slack and lazy.

The good news is icecream requires no chewing.

I went on a walk in the afternoon because the major stress reliever in my life is exercise. Besides, I love the outdoors and it was a beautiful day. I was so excited to see the irises are in bloom! I love those showy flowers. Between the sun, the walk, the irises, and the icecream...my tense jaw seemed to relax and I am almost pain free now. It happened suddenly, so I think something really did slip out of joint, but now it's back, and I am so grateful.

God hands me little wake up calls like that on a regular basis. Things seem to be going just fine, even if I have slacked off a little in my daily Bible reading, or had a little too many cookies and too few vegetables, or chosen a few too many times not to speak His word boldly when I knew I could have...and should have. And then, wham! The inevitable consequence of falling short of all I should be and do hit hard.  The Bible warns repeatedly to guard against backsliding. It is too easy to become complacent, to sit back and watch a fire die rather than go to all the effort of adding logs.

If spiritual muscles grow slack, the tensions and tugs of an evil world can pull all of us out of alignment with God's perfect will. I guarantee, that hurts a whole lot more than a dislocated jaw.
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1 John 1:9 

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Hebrews 6:4-6 

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Jeremiah 3:12 

Go, and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, “‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the Lord. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the Lord; I will not be angry forever.

2 Corinthians 13:5 

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Jeremiah 8:5 

Why then has this people turned away in perpetual backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to return.

Jeremiah 3:22 

“Return, O faithless sons; I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.