When my daughter Micah was born, Meredith had to have an emergency caesarean section. I'll never forget that day. Her doctors, Dr. Slocumb and Dr. Evans came in the hospital room, and after a sonogram said, "We have to do an emergency c-section." It was a very emotional time for me.
They took Meredith and rushed her off to the operating room. I asked the doctors if I could go with her and they said yes, but to wait until the nurse came for me.
After what seemed like an eternity the nurse came to take me to what was a locker room. The doctors were there putting on their doctor stuff. I'm putting on my scrubs and I'll never forget listening to their conversation. They were talking not about the surgery and not about my wife. They're talking about the Atlanta Braves. I remember, being on verge of tears, thinking, "Guys, think about what you're doing. My wife is about to have surgery."
After getting Meredith ready and everyone in their place, they brought me in and she is lying on the table with this big curtain draped in front of her. There was this chair that was in my way, so I pushed it away. The nurse came to me and said, "Sir, we want you to sit in this chair!"
So I am sitting in this chair and there is this curtain. On one side are her shoulders and head and on the other side is the rest of her where she is going to have the baby. And it's like I'm sitting in two worlds. In one world is my wife, Meredith, and I am praying and saying, "Breathe. Let's turn the anesthesia up to 12." So on one side of the curtain is my wife and I'm all stressed out and she is breathing. She can't see what's happening.
One the other side of the curtain, it's like the Discovery Channel. I am totally freaking out. I was saying, "You can't feel that?" They're cutting her open and I'm about to pass out. The thing that bothered me the most was here is the woman I know and love, and over here was the Discovery Channel world, which was not my world.
I am sitting there and Dr. Evans and Dr. Slocumb, two great and wonderful doctors, are just chitchatting. Dr Slocumb was talking about his dog that had run off and how he had to get another pet, and now he has a fence. Then they start talking about a fishing trip and vacation and I am over by Meredith praying, "God help us. Help Meredith. Guide these doctors," and on and on and they're just talking and chatting.
I remember having this thought: "Hey pay attention! Concentrate. Let's knock off the small talk and concentrate. This is my wife and we're having a baby. Focus. Talk about medical stuff." And the doctors are just doing their thing. Meanwhile I am praying and trying to comfort Meredith, about to pass out. A few minutes later, they bring Micah out and wow, she was so beautiful.
I came away from that and I thought, you know, that's just how it is with God. Because in my uncertainty, when I'm in my uncertain world, and think "Oh this is new...I have never...O, God, what are you going to do?" God is saying, "Hey, hey, hey. I do this all the time. I am the master of uncertainty. I have brought worlds into being. I have brought good from chaos. I took the greatest tragedy in human history, the murder of my son, and I brought about your salvation. This is my world. I know how to deal with these times. I am not stressed out. I am not out of control. I am doing exactly what I need to do. I need you to sit there and trust me."
And just like Dr. Slocumb and Dr. Evans were the masters in that operating room environment, that is what they do day in and day out, two or three times a day. In the same way, your God and my God, your heavenly Father and my heavenly Father, is the master at arranging, using and squeezing good out of uncertainty. All he has asked us to do is to pray. That is, come to him and to lay our concerns before him and express to him the desires of our heart. He is calling to us to remember and think back on how so many times he was faithful, and how so many times he brought good from bad. He asks us to seek his kingdom first. And he has called us to simply get up every morning and do what anybody in our circumstances would do, who was confident that God was with us.
Then at the end of the day, when we look back and reflect, like the Apostle Paul, Elijah and Joseph, we will breathe a sigh of relief and say, "Wow, He is still good. He is still faithful. He is still in charge. He is still in control."
When uncertainty enters your world, now you know what to do when you don't know what to do. You pray. You remember. You seek. And you follow. Then you'll have the confidence of knowing that God is always active even in your uncertainty. That's for sure.
- Article Word Count: 894
- |
- Total Views: 78
- |
- permalink