This week I found God in a very strange place! In the wee hours of Friday morning... He was sitting behind a curtain in a small cubicle in the emergency room at our local hospital.
I know He was there... because I was there too!
Bobby had rushed me there about 11:00 on Thursday night with crushing chest pain. We were almost certain it was not a heart issue and pretty sure it might be another bad reaction from yet another antibiotics.
But, at four in the morning I was back from a chest CT scan waiting to hear if I had a blood clot in one of my lungs... and I was very frightened! Another reaction to antibiotics didn't seem so bad, I was almost used to them popping up. But a blood clot was very scary...
Bobby was sitting in a chair in the cubicle too... somewhere between worn out from a long day of work and being very much in his head trying to figure out what was wrong with me. He sat silent and had that "certain look" I know so well... a look that told me he was methodically going over and over all my symptoms and meds and recent medical history. I knew he running diagnoses in his mind.
It was at that moment I noticed HIM! Quiet and always the Gentleman. He was there... waiting for me!
So I began to talk to Him. Not out loud... but talk to Him nevertheless!
"I'm so glad you're here.. I just forgot for awhile that you would be!"
"I'm so glad you're here.. I just forgot for awhile that you would be!"
"Father, I am very very frightened! I don't want a blood clot. It really scares me! See, I am shaking. My palms are sweaty and it's even hard for me to concentrate right now!"
"But I know that You hear me and understand just what I mean... I may not be making much sense right now... but You know."
"You have the answer... you control everything. You know that I am here and it is no surprise to you. By Your will You let all of this happen to me. I sure wish I knew why. It would be so much easier if You would just speak to me out loud! Yes, I know that is not Your "style."
"I really need You right now. I need Your mercy and grace and favor. Please be with me and calm me and if it be Your will... and I really really want this to be Your will... please don't let this recent problem be serious."
"I just think I'm about at the end of my "complications" rope... for sure!"
I don't know if those were my exact words... but close enough. I kept asking for calm and mercy and grace and favor.
And I did remind God that I was His... just so He would know that I knew!
Bobby and I got home about 5:45 Friday morning. He showered and went to work. I went to bed. When I got up, sometime in the early afternoon, I began to think about how God has a habit of hanging out in the strangest places! If I were the King of every thing you probably would not find me in an emergency room at 4:00 am. Certainly not my first choice!
Actually,God has a history of hanging out in STRANGE places!
Just look at Jesus!
When He lived on planet earth Jesus was all about "His Father's business". So where ever His Father sent Him, Jesus went.
He was (and is) the King and yet we would have not found Him being born in a palace. The Magi made that mistake. They went to King Herod's palace in Jerusalem looking for Him... but Jesus was not there! It does seem that a palace would have been the most logical place to find a King!
Instead, He was found by lowly shepherds... lying in an animal food trough in a small town called Bethlehem. There He was in all His newborn kingly splendor hanging out with a poor young couple, livestock and shepherds!
As He grew up, Jesus lived in a pioneer-type town... very small. The Eternal King became a carpenter. And schmoozed with humble work-a-day people! Oppressed people under the thumb of the cruel Roman Empire.
During Jesus' ministry He could be found with common fishermen and hated tax collectors and with a half naked lady who had been brought to him because she had been caught in adultery.
He spent time in Samaria. A town the Jews hated with people the Jews hated! And Jesus stayed awhile with them and loved them. He loved them right into eternal life!
He found his constant companions were the sick and disfigured and chronically ill and downtrodden and demon possessed and disenfranchised and hated and even dead on an occasion or two. And He loved all of them.
They followed Jesus because He was the only answer... the only One who could make them well. He welcomed them and cured them and offered Himself to them.
Jesus went to the strangest places to find people who needed Him! Places that good Jews of His day would not go. But Jesus did!
He even took a dead-of night-walk ON the Sea Of Galilee to be with a group of fishermen he loved! Jesus went out of His way to be with the most lowly, discarded and hated of His day! He was all about His Father's business!
In the book of John, chapter 10 Jesus says...
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep." John 10:11
God is in the "sheep" business! He has a flock and He is all about finding and keeping every single sheep He owns and not letting a single one go!
"For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture. And the sheep under His care. If only you would listen to His voice today". Ps 95:7
We are His sheep! And He will go to the strangest places to be with us, to rescue us and to save us. He even went to the strangest place of all for us... the cross!
Jesus said...
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" . John 10:25
Jesus will go to the strangest places to be with His sheep and to call them and to lead them.
If you are wondering, it was not a blood clot. Just another bad reaction... just like Bobby suspected! But that is not the focus of why I am telling you this. It is that my Shepherd showed up. He was with me.
Even if the outcome would have been not so good... He was still there!
He leads me though good and bad. And because He leads... He goes ahead of me and goes through it first!
He IS the Good Shepherd! And one day He will lead me straight to my Father's arms and I will be home.
How about you? Is Jesus your Good Shepherd? If not, there is no place He won't go to find you and be with you and call you back to Himself.
All you need to do is perk up your little sheepie ears to hear Him!
"I really need You right now. I need Your mercy and grace and favor. Please be with me and calm me and if it be Your will... and I really really want this to be Your will... please don't let this recent problem be serious."
"I just think I'm about at the end of my "complications" rope... for sure!"
I don't know if those were my exact words... but close enough. I kept asking for calm and mercy and grace and favor.
And I did remind God that I was His... just so He would know that I knew!
Bobby and I got home about 5:45 Friday morning. He showered and went to work. I went to bed. When I got up, sometime in the early afternoon, I began to think about how God has a habit of hanging out in the strangest places! If I were the King of every thing you probably would not find me in an emergency room at 4:00 am. Certainly not my first choice!
Actually,God has a history of hanging out in STRANGE places!
Just look at Jesus!
When He lived on planet earth Jesus was all about "His Father's business". So where ever His Father sent Him, Jesus went.
He was (and is) the King and yet we would have not found Him being born in a palace. The Magi made that mistake. They went to King Herod's palace in Jerusalem looking for Him... but Jesus was not there! It does seem that a palace would have been the most logical place to find a King!
Instead, He was found by lowly shepherds... lying in an animal food trough in a small town called Bethlehem. There He was in all His newborn kingly splendor hanging out with a poor young couple, livestock and shepherds!
As He grew up, Jesus lived in a pioneer-type town... very small. The Eternal King became a carpenter. And schmoozed with humble work-a-day people! Oppressed people under the thumb of the cruel Roman Empire.
During Jesus' ministry He could be found with common fishermen and hated tax collectors and with a half naked lady who had been brought to him because she had been caught in adultery.
He spent time in Samaria. A town the Jews hated with people the Jews hated! And Jesus stayed awhile with them and loved them. He loved them right into eternal life!
He found his constant companions were the sick and disfigured and chronically ill and downtrodden and demon possessed and disenfranchised and hated and even dead on an occasion or two. And He loved all of them.
They followed Jesus because He was the only answer... the only One who could make them well. He welcomed them and cured them and offered Himself to them.
Jesus went to the strangest places to find people who needed Him! Places that good Jews of His day would not go. But Jesus did!
He even took a dead-of night-walk ON the Sea Of Galilee to be with a group of fishermen he loved! Jesus went out of His way to be with the most lowly, discarded and hated of His day! He was all about His Father's business!
In the book of John, chapter 10 Jesus says...
"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd lays down His life for His sheep." John 10:11
God is in the "sheep" business! He has a flock and He is all about finding and keeping every single sheep He owns and not letting a single one go!
"For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture. And the sheep under His care. If only you would listen to His voice today". Ps 95:7
We are His sheep! And He will go to the strangest places to be with us, to rescue us and to save us. He even went to the strangest place of all for us... the cross!
Jesus said...
"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" . John 10:25
Jesus will go to the strangest places to be with His sheep and to call them and to lead them.
If you are wondering, it was not a blood clot. Just another bad reaction... just like Bobby suspected! But that is not the focus of why I am telling you this. It is that my Shepherd showed up. He was with me.
Even if the outcome would have been not so good... He was still there!
He leads me though good and bad. And because He leads... He goes ahead of me and goes through it first!
He IS the Good Shepherd! And one day He will lead me straight to my Father's arms and I will be home.
How about you? Is Jesus your Good Shepherd? If not, there is no place He won't go to find you and be with you and call you back to Himself.
All you need to do is perk up your little sheepie ears to hear Him!
OMG, I didn't know youhad been back in the ER!!!!! I am so glad it was NOT a blood clot! And I KNOW you saw Him there, behind the curtian, waiting to calm and comfort you. I love the idea of Jesus "schmoozing"!!!!!!!!!! That really made me smile!!! XOXO
ReplyDeleteWhat a great thread God being in the strangest of places, yet always looking after us. Happy your scare was merely an antibiotic reaction - how frightened you must have been. How happy you must be, knowing you are protected!
ReplyDeleteSo THANKFUL that as always God was with you and you recognized Him and that it was not a blood clot. It is my most sincere prayer that you will quickly be healed.
ReplyDeleteYou have been in my thoughts and prayers. I do not know you personally, but you have given so much of yourself to your readers that I feel you are part of our family.
ReplyDeleteI hope your journey for healing continues in a more positive direction but, I also think that your bumps in the road have given even more to us in understanding how important our God and faith are to us at all times.
Please continue to share the beauty of your life with God in addition to your awesome talent of providing us with "pretty things" to enjoy in our daily lives. Thank You : )
God bless you for writing that. Glad you're better. : )
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful way to witness God's saving grace! As in 2 Corinthians 12:9:
ReplyDeleteAnd He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
So glad that you did not have a serious outcome!
Wonderful scripture, Gabriele! Thanks so much!
DeleteYvonne, I'm so sorry to read of all you have been through once again. You are being tested over and over again! I just sent up a prayer for you for your healing and I asked God to renew your courage. Take care. You have been in my thoughts lately!
ReplyDeleteAs God would say to you "Well Done My Good and Faithful Servant". Because you witness for him to all of us he is very happy with you. Stay well and happy. Thank you for a wonderful testament...love Rebecca
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I'm so happy to hear that you're ok. Thank you for sharing your insight and faith through your gift of story-telling. Yes, HE is always there, we need only to see.
ReplyDeletexo
Yvonne, what a great post! so thankful All is Well! He who dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the ALLMIGHTY! GOD is so Good to us. HE is worthy of all our praise.
ReplyDelete"If you are willing". And He was. Thanks be to God
ReplyDeleteThank you, Yvonne, for sharing this with us. I'm so glad you're okay. This post has so blessed me! Especially..."I'm so glad you're here.. I just forgot for awhile that you would be!" So many times, especially in times of crisis, this is exactly what happens. We hurry in to figure things out on our own and then realize God has been there all along. Always. Patiently waiting for us to say hello and ask.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad it was something they could fix. We just need to trust and put our hand in his.
ReplyDeleteHugs Kay
Your story could be mine. I've had a traumatic brain injuries and had strange things and I've been code blue more than once and had sudden cardiac arrest last summer with 2.5 minutes of CPR to revive me. But it was just about a week ago, in my deepest deepest of sorrows, I sobbed and cried to Jesus that I needed Him. I have no one who really understands nor cares to be near me much. I'm such a burden. I feel alone, inside my house day in and out. My children do not stop over--ever--just to say hi, I bet you get lonely. Friends? Are busy. My husband? He tries but talks of needing trips away from me and yet I'm still at home. I have people say Oh you'll find your purpose someday--I thought I had--in my secret writing of encouragement--being home to answer the phone if my blind 96 year old Mom wonders the time. I pray for many. Even led to pray openly for strangers. No one has said no. Yet my heart aches. And so I wept so hard that day and begging for Jesus and I saw the flash of white hovering near my counter as I held onto the doors of my refrigerator. I wanted to cry and talk to Jesus. Not have my spouse tell me to gain control when my brain is missing there--and it was Jesus. For I realized my husband wasn't around the inside of the kitchen. I gained control. My weeping seized. My tears stopped flowing. I've told no one. But I believe Jesus was there that day. I live now? It's harder. To remember the now. My crying is deeper. No one understands traumatic brain injuries. Each one is different. I'm thankful I recall verses of long ago. And hymns. These bring comfort in hospital rooms and when I'm too very sick to pray, I know the Holy Spirit is praying with such groanings. I've scared doctors, nurses, CNAs, and yet I've lived. I wonder why. I'm ready now. But there must be more people to share Christ with...to show that though the days grow dark, my life is limited, He has a plan. May you heal. And may you feel deep inside love of your family.
ReplyDeleteDearest Gwen,
DeleteI had a rough night wondering if the stress of the weekend had broken my heart and happen to read your post. Please know that you are in my prayers and that in this world of faceless names you are not alone. You are showing tremendous courage every day that you get up and deal with your health. I find strength in my friends, as my children are busy (and also have their own health issues from birth). I don't know if the hospital you frequent has support groups but people who have the same issues (and faith) might develop a mutual support system. This could be your purpose in life, suffering and offering light to others in spite of their burdens.
Much love and hope to you, as your story helped me.
DJ
Thank you so much for your very caring reply, DJ. God bless you and Gwen. I'm praying for both of you!
DeleteSo glad you are doing well. May the Lord always be with you
ReplyDeleteSending up prayers for you!
ReplyDeleteYour faith and strong testimony is admired. Thank you for sharing your personal story of attributes of God. He is ever present, all powerful and knows everything.
ReplyDeleteI hope that healing is close at hand and all will go well with you.
Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Yvonne. So inspirational. I hope that you are feeling better!
ReplyDeleteYvonne, I hope you are feeling better and that God is continuing to strengthen you. Your blog not only brings decorating inspiration but spiritual inspiration as well. I am amazed at how you continue to write and bring joy and inspiration to others despite what difficulties you are going through with your health. My husband recently broke his ankle and has been laid up for a while. I know how difficult that can be for someone. I thought about your recent knee surgeries and infections and yet you still persevere in sharing your special gift of encouraging and inspiring your readers. I guess I just want you to know that I am inspired by you and how you continue to bless others regardless of the challenges you are facing as well.I agree with what Bonnie wrote, your faith and testimony really shows itself through your blog.
ReplyDeleteSuch a testimony of faith and knowledge of our Heavenly Father and how He is always with us and walks the way and shows us how we should trust and believe in him.
ReplyDelete