Crutch

In a mid 90's winter, after a graceful glide (HA!) to my knees, I found myself in a brace, on crutches. My right knee was broken...I was also told that even after the 6-8 weeks of healing, it would never be the same. Since it was a work comp injury I was sent to a specialist who would eventually determine my permanent impairment and my cash compensation.

When you have a broken leg, you can't walk on it, depend on it, or even count on it for balance. If you try and use it without the assistance of a crutch, you can cause further damage and impede your healing. You have to depend on others to help fetch and carry, bear your burdens, and prepare your way. In my case, I couldn't even drive. Life was frustrating. My arms ached from using muscles I'd never used before, and my hands were sore.
But after a while, I got use to them. I could slip and slide around doors, maneuver steps and those sore muscles eased up and bulked up. When my healing time was over, it felt strange not to have them anymore.

Many people, those who are skeptical of God, often accuse Christians of using God/religion as a "crutch" .

I agree.

Without God,  I am broken. I am not whole. I am fallible, sinful, fallen and lost. But with my crutch, I am capable! I can maneuver through this life, leaning on Him. When my burdens are too much to bear I have help; through Him and my brothers and sisters in Christ. I have angels that prepare my way.
Learning to lean on God has often been painful, and stressful, but through the years I have become stronger, and those weakened spiritual muscles have developed over time. My hands don't get sore, but my knees still do, as they should.

When I returned to my specialist at the end of those 6 weeks, he walked in, looked at my x-rays, walked out, then returned with 2 other sets of films. He said "I'm sorry, but I thought they gave me the wrong records." He then popped all three films up on the screen. "This," he said, pointing to the first x-ray "was your very first x-ray taken. It shows a very clear fracture." He then pointed to next one "This one is the first one we took here, showing a healing fracture." Then came the one that had been taken just moments before. "This one, taken today, shows no evidence that a fracture ever occurred." He shook his head in amazement. "There will be no permanent impairment."
I wasn't surprised at all.  God promised me complete healing.
Crutches are good for something....