There are many times that God shows up, however, sometimes God chooses to just SHOW OUT. This is when He, the Creator of ALL things, the Author of the Word, the Alpha and the Omega gives a glimpse of how intimate He is in the details. It is when a sunrise nearly brings you to your knees by the majestic glory of the colors, the first time that you hold your child in your arms and the warmth of their body sets your heart on fire, or in watching a couple after decades of time holding hands as if they were young lovers. In these moments of exhilaration, of awareness, of AWESOMENESS that you know that GOD is not just showing His hands, or His face, but He is showing His Heart.
Today, I saw His heart and He was giving it to a family as they stood in loving vigilance over their loved one whom was dying.
I had been caring for this patient whom was dying from cancer and as we had shifted in the paradigm of care from hospital to hospice the family had been gathering to love on her and each other. This was a beautiful family and each day I have been blessed to know more and more of them. Today, as we spoke of our faith and the blessed assurance of that heavenly place, I shared the story of my previous post, "Till We Meet Again". Having mentioned only the name of B. in the story, the patient's sister asked expectantly, "Where did you say that B. lived?" I said that she had lived in Indiana and she said, "I got cold chills as you were sharing that story, because I knew her and her sweet husband and actually she had grown up in Aynor and then moved to Indiana many years ago. I had heard that she had passed".
How could this be that a different hospital, a different family, and the passage of many years would bring families together? It is that God decided to show His Heart and His Love, He not only Showed Up, He SHOWED OUT!
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Fear of Man
It is so easy for us to "Fear Man" more than to "Fear God". I was thinking about this as I was getting ready for church this morning and was reminded by God of scripture.
Imagine what it must have been like to be the disciple Peter. This was a man that believed, in fact declared, and KNEW that Jesus was the Son of God. He had walked with Him and been taught by Him and was a witness to the many miracles done by Him. He was Jewish and no doubt had been taught as a young child the Torah, the first five books of our old testament, and learned of the almighty power of the Most High God. Perhaps his mother read to him Psalm 23, "Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me..." as he laid down to fall asleep.
This man loved Jesus and vehemently denied that he would ever reject Him when that long dark night began. And yet, when Fear came knocking not once, not twice, but three times, Peter let him in. Why, why, why? He allowed fear of man to overcome fear of God. Do I tell you this story to indict myself, to indict you? No, I tell you this story because even though it is true that Peter allowed fear to shape that night and he wept bitterly when he heard the rooster crow the third time, it is not the end of Peter's story and thank God my fearful nights are not the end of my story. Nor will your fearful times be the end of your story. For Peter soon thereafter rebukes the fear of man, begins to preach and the very first time that he does so the following occurs: "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." Acts 2:41.
What gives me comfort as I am reminded of this is that fear is common, fear can be overcome, and when that happens, God can use me in powerful ways for His Glory.
Imagine what it must have been like to be the disciple Peter. This was a man that believed, in fact declared, and KNEW that Jesus was the Son of God. He had walked with Him and been taught by Him and was a witness to the many miracles done by Him. He was Jewish and no doubt had been taught as a young child the Torah, the first five books of our old testament, and learned of the almighty power of the Most High God. Perhaps his mother read to him Psalm 23, "Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me..." as he laid down to fall asleep.
This man loved Jesus and vehemently denied that he would ever reject Him when that long dark night began. And yet, when Fear came knocking not once, not twice, but three times, Peter let him in. Why, why, why? He allowed fear of man to overcome fear of God. Do I tell you this story to indict myself, to indict you? No, I tell you this story because even though it is true that Peter allowed fear to shape that night and he wept bitterly when he heard the rooster crow the third time, it is not the end of Peter's story and thank God my fearful nights are not the end of my story. Nor will your fearful times be the end of your story. For Peter soon thereafter rebukes the fear of man, begins to preach and the very first time that he does so the following occurs: "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day." Acts 2:41.
What gives me comfort as I am reminded of this is that fear is common, fear can be overcome, and when that happens, God can use me in powerful ways for His Glory.
Friday, June 10, 2016
Till We Meet Again
He sat alone in the back of the church but yet did not appear lonely. I walked by and felt the the tug of the Holy Spirit pulling me towards him. I drew close and he looked up. Our eyes locked in recognition. I leaned down to shake his hand and the warmth of the Spirit engulfed us and we hugged feeling His Presence.
It had been 3 years since meeting. It was then that he and his wife B. had traveled to the community I lived in. They had come from Indiana for many years to celebrate special events in their lives. This particular year was truly special as B. was dying and they knew this would be their last visit. However, B. became ill and had to be hospitalized on this last visit.
I was her doctor. God brought us together at this moment and we knew that it was His divine intervention.
Our goal was to get B. well enough to see the beach with her husband, J. God intervened and made that happen. The very last night I prayed for J. and B. and finished that prayer with, "till we meet again". At that time I believed, we all believed, that meeting would take place in Heaven and what a celebration it would be for us all.
However, God, in his majesty chose our meeting to occur before that time. I just happened to be visiting this church in a nearby community. And J., well he was just passing through on his way from Indiana to Hilton Head, SC. Very rarely do I give my cell phone number to patients in place of my work phone, however, later that afternoon I received a text from "B." and it was J., also praising God for the gift to meet again.
And for me, on that day, I was struggling and God saw and He gave me a gift, again, of showing me that He is there, All the Time and He is Good. Our Father God knew I was struggling that day, and He wanted to show me, he spoke to me with the words, "till we meet again".
It had been 3 years since meeting. It was then that he and his wife B. had traveled to the community I lived in. They had come from Indiana for many years to celebrate special events in their lives. This particular year was truly special as B. was dying and they knew this would be their last visit. However, B. became ill and had to be hospitalized on this last visit.
I was her doctor. God brought us together at this moment and we knew that it was His divine intervention.
Our goal was to get B. well enough to see the beach with her husband, J. God intervened and made that happen. The very last night I prayed for J. and B. and finished that prayer with, "till we meet again". At that time I believed, we all believed, that meeting would take place in Heaven and what a celebration it would be for us all.
However, God, in his majesty chose our meeting to occur before that time. I just happened to be visiting this church in a nearby community. And J., well he was just passing through on his way from Indiana to Hilton Head, SC. Very rarely do I give my cell phone number to patients in place of my work phone, however, later that afternoon I received a text from "B." and it was J., also praising God for the gift to meet again.
And for me, on that day, I was struggling and God saw and He gave me a gift, again, of showing me that He is there, All the Time and He is Good. Our Father God knew I was struggling that day, and He wanted to show me, he spoke to me with the words, "till we meet again".
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