Try This at Home

About 2 months ago, I began having severe tightness in my upper neck and shoulders. It stretched from shoulder to shoulder and from my neck down to mid-back. I was used to the occasional crick—I’ve had them since college due to long hours hunched over books and computers (which I still do now).

Usually, I let it resolve itself within a day or two. If it doesn’t, I focus on drinking more water and stretching, and it eventually eases up. But this was different. Nothing relieved it. It was severely uncomfortable.

And to make it worse, we were planning a beach trip.

Ibuprofen got me to the beach, but as the day wore on, I was wearing out. When we finally got home that evening, I went straight for the pain meds again. Then my wife tried to massage it out but that had little effect. That’s when I realized: I need professional help.

Years earlier, I had similar pain in my mid and lower back. I went to a therapist who attacked the knots in my back like it was her sworn enemy. That middle-aged, hippy-looking lady pressed her elbow into one stubborn knot with such determination that when it broke loose, my leg kicked involuntarily. A noise came out of me that I didn’t even know I was capable of making—somewhere between a dying walrus and a startled teenager. The pain and relief hit at the same time. It was awful, but it worked.

Now, ten years later, I was back (pun intended) in the same boat.

But this time, instead of one therapy appointment, I signed up for five weeks. Under the doctor’s instruction, I did the stretches and exercises, and today I’m in far better shape than six weeks ago. I’m not advertising physical therapy here, but this experience made me think about some situations and mindsets possibly present in all our lives.

Just The Way it Is

Just because something has been that way doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Don’t normalize what shouldn’t be normalized.

I had normalized my pain for 15 years. And people loved to say, “You know, it’s all downhill after 30,” and “Just wait until you hit 40.”

I argued with them, but the pain in my neck was arguing against me. Maybe the tension in my back was me subconsciously dreading turning another year older (yep, the beach trip was on my birthday weekend).

“Lord, help me,” I prayed many times that day.

Speaking of the Lord, when we look at Jesus, we see him constantly challenging what people accepted as normal.

• A boy suffering since childhood

• a man paralyzed for thirty-eight years

• a woman suffering twelve years

Jesus refused to accept those conditions as permanent. His ministry wasn’t just physical miracles, but to usher in a new kingdom, to say, “You have heard it said…but I tell you…” Don’t accept pain or brokenness as your forever. Don’t settle for dysfunction because you grew up in it. What we call normal often falls short of what God intends.

Go Get Help

Change doesn’t come by wishful thinking. For years I tried YouTube stretches, tips from friends, quick fixes that fizzled out in a week or two. I needed more than what I could do on my own—I needed someone with expertise, someone who could target the real problem and guide me through it. And, I had to be willing to pay for it.

Real change will cost you something. Money, yes, but also time, energy, and, for me, the humility of admitting I couldn’t fix it alone. Real change always costs something. Sometimes it costs us ego, sometimes relationships, sometimes the courage to risk being seen as different.

Hebrews says Jesus was willing to embrace not just the pain, but the shame of doing what he did for us. The woman in Luke’s story had already tried every doctor in the region.

Relentless, she went to Jesus when nothing else worked. And when she touched Him, she received what no one else could give.

Faith isn’t about avoiding effort—it’s about directing your effort where true change is found. We must fight through the resistance of our minds, our fear, the opinions of others, the “sunk-cost fallacy.” But in the end, it’s Jesus who heals and sustains.

Try This at Home

That’s why we can’t keep faith locked inside church walls.

Too many people say, “I tried church, I tried that Jesus thing,” but what they mean is they sat through a service. They stopped making the effort on their own time when it was inconvenient or uncomfortable, or the results were slower than they wanted.

That’s not faith.

Real change comes when you practice at home. It’s like physical therapy—if I had only gone once a week and never followed through, I would have barely improved. Instead, I took what I learned into my daily life. I bought some inexpensive equipment, did the stretches, and strengthened what was weak. That’s how I healed.

Faith works the same way. Christianity isn’t jewelry around your neck or “faith” tattooed on you arm. It’s a lifestyle. If you want freedom from emotional pain, relational dysfunction, financial frustration, or spiritual confusion, you need more than a Sunday service. You need to live it out—on the bus, at work, at home, on your phone.

Jesus said you’re blessed not just if you know His words but if you do them.

This isn’t about ritual; it’s about transformation. It’s about loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. When you practice what Jesus teaches—daily, intentionally—you’ll find yourself not only healed but strengthened.

And like the woman in Luke, you’ll feel the transformation happening within you.