Good morning…
I was recently reminded of a frightening experience. When our first of four children was born, he was not able to come home from the hospital with us, but instead was taken by ambulance to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Hershey Medical Center in Pennsylvania. We were told by our physician that he may have a rare condition called Hirschsprung’s Disease. “The worst case scenario is that he will have to wear a pouch attached to his stomach for the rest of his life,” the doctor said nonchalantly. As first time parents, we were horrified. Just horrified.
When we got to Hershey Medical Center, we walked into the NICU to see our fragile 5 pound boy hooked up to a jumble of tubes and monitors, cocooned in a tiny plastic incubator, off limits to our touch. Again, horrifying. Just horrifying. Over the span of a few days, experts performed a battery of invasive tests and in the process they dislodged a meconium plug blocking his intestine. Evidently, he had breathed in some of the thick amniotic fluid during his birth and when the dense plug was cleared, his vomiting ceased. Nourished back to his birth weight of 5 lbs. 15 oz., our son left the hospital after one exhausting week and our worst fears were relieved, joyously relieved.
Why do I tell you this story?
Because the enemy of God would love for us to waste all of our energy on the worst case scenario. Fearing. Worrying. Anxiously obsessing about what horrible might happen. When we are consumed with fear, we are held hostage. Freeing us from the greedy grip of the father of lies, God Almighty offers us peace. Power. Palpable presence. Much of the time, our worst case scenario never materializes, yet our time and our trust are anxiously eaten away. If our worst case scenario actually does comes true, empowered by God’s Spirit permanently lodged in our gut, we bear life’s heavy burdens one day at a time.
Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes, Matthew 6:34 (MSG),
Sue
