A Subtle Reminder

(If you think this doesn’t apply to you, wait till the end)

I was in the shower the other day when a spot on my back started to itch again. Even though it was my back that itched and not yours, you probably know exactly the spot I am talking about. It was that spot on your back that you just can’t reach yourself. It is a bit frustrating when there is an itch there.

I don’t seem to be the only one who suffers from getting an itch you just can’t scratch. In fact, there is a term for this exact thing:

Acnestis (ak-NEES-tis): The part of an animal's skin that it cannot reach to scratch itself - usually the space between the shoulder blades.

I was somewhat surprised to find a word for this plight.

All this got me to wondering why there is a spot we cannot reach. Did God create mankind in all our magnificence and then when Adam got the first itch on his back that he could not reach say “Oops, I didn’t think about that?” I highly doubt that God did not foresee this issue. I am not saying this is a major issue or anything. However, his ability to design to the smallest detail is so astounding that I believe He never says “Oops” about anything He has designed. (In fact my latest book is devoted to that exact topic: God Doesn’t Say Oops)

If God could foresee this problem, why did He not simply adjust the design of our shoulders or our elbows to bend just a few degrees more to be able to reach our acnestis (the spot we cannot reach)? This is total speculation on my part, but I believe I may know one reason why He gave us a spot we just could not reach alone. It may be a way for God to subtly remind each of us that we cannot do everything by ourselves; we often need help from others. This need is one of the primary reasons why God created the church. Sure, you can get a stick or something to scratch your back, but that still requires you to look outside yourself for help to some degree. The most fulfilling way to have that itch scratched is to have someone else scratch it for you. Then you can just relax and enjoy it.

God designed us to need other people in our lives. A very wise man once wrote:

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 (HCSB)

Being around others helps us grow stronger (emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically). There is also power in simply being with other people:

And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. – Ecclesiastes 4:12 (HCSB)

God wants us to depend on other people and not merely on ourselves. That is one of the main purposes of Christ establishing the church. It is here to help us through this life.

So, the next time your back itches and you just can’t reach that itch, remember that you are not meant to go through life alone. Be thankful that God has put others in your life to help you with that itch and with the much more serious problems you encounter in your journey through this life.

[Addendum: Apparently some of us need to be reminded that we cannot do everything by ourselves more than others. After I wrote this blog, I showed it to my wife who quickly responded, “I can reach my entire back. I don’t have an acnestis.” Then, to my dismay, both of my kids and her promptly showed me that they can in fact reach every spot on their backs without any help. I then started to think I was quite unique in the fact that there is a massive area on my back that I cannot reach. After that, I started asking my friends, neighbors, and strangers if they did or did not have an acnestis. (I loved the looks I got from this question.) I was happy to discover that most people do in fact have a place on their backs which they cannot reach. I was not happy that they could not reach those spots but that my wife and 2 kids were the odd-balls and not myself.

So, if you have no trouble reaching everywhere on your body by yourself, then maybe you do not need to be reminded that you need help from others quite as much as I do.]