Out of the fog

            I have spent the past three weeks in and out of a medicated fog following surgery. While I have gotten some great sleep, had some interesting conversations and incredible dreams; coming out of the fog is a much better place to be. It is quite difficult to collect one’s thoughts when taking medications that make one groggy. This blog has been on my mind but I could not get my act together long enough to write anything cohesive (praying this will be cohesive). Nor could I decide a topic upon which to write.

            I was in the hospital for 2 days and the main thing I desired was to be treated as a patient and not a nurse (this is difficult when you are in the care of your peers). I have been on both sides of this scenario, it is difficult to not assume the nurse/patient already knows what she should do for her recovery. It is also difficult to stop ‘being’ a nurse when you’re in the bed. I found myself silencing the IV pump, disconnecting things and doing things a nurse would do were I a regular patient.

Confused yet? You see I wanted, no expected, my nurses to behave a specific way toward me. At the same time, I did not fully relinquish my care to their hands. I believe this is a good analogy of how we believers behave toward God in certain circumstances. We do not fully relinquish ourselves to His care. Nor do we allow him the time or the leeway to give his care, his way. We know best! Wrong!

            Proverbs 1:7 “If you really want to gain knowledge, you must begin by having respect for the Lord. But foolish people hate wisdom and training.”

            How often do we get in our own way? These days it is so easy to Google everything, that we have decided that we are the expert more than the person who has been educated to do his/her profession. Sin is the barricade that gets in our way. We turn away and we turn back to sin daily. We need to turn away and give God the elbow room to walk alongside us and keep us from turning back to sin. Sometimes, we need to allow God to convict us of our sin because we don’t recognize it. I have found quite frequently when God convicts us of a sin, instead of confessing it we want to get angry with God about it. Emotions can also get in the way; faith is not a feeling, it is a living, breathing character trait which enables us to override what the world tells us and cling to what God teaches us.

            Being aware of our barricades which block us, we can choose to allow God to work in our lives; going forward with greater confidence.

            Hebrews 12:11 “No training seems pleasant at the time. In fact, it seems painful. But later on it will produce a harvest of godliness and peace. It does that for those who have been trained by it.”