Divine Intervention?

I am still reading “Prayer: Does it Make Any Difference” by Philip Yancey. Every day I find something that makes me think in a different way. This passage really hit me:

“I used to spend a lot of energy asking God questions. Why must poverty persist in a rich country like the U.S.A.? Why does one continent, Africa, absorb like a sponge so many of the world’s disasters? When will “peace on earth” ever arrive? Ultimately, I came to see these questions as God’s interrogations of us. Jesus made clear God’s will for the planet—what part am I playing to help fulfill that will?”

You know, I ask these questions, too. Somehow, I expect one of two things when I pray. I either expect God to answer my questions or fix my problems with divine intervention (hopefully in a swift, direct response), or I expect God to show me how to fix my own problem (I like to do it all on my own, anyway). But it never ceases to amaze me how big God really is. I continually need to be reminded that every one of us is interconnected with God and with each other. God uses each of us in an intricate web to help bring about his will in each situation.

One of my favorite books is “The Count of Monte Cristo”. It is a classic, written long before my time, yet it is still intriguing. If you are not familiar with the story, it is about a man who is wrongly imprisoned (he was set up by a friend), and he manages to escape and work out a complex plan to bring down everyone involved in his imprisonment. Most of the story shows him weaving his web of vengeance, and finally, everything falls into place, and it all comes toppling down like a row of dominoes.

In a way, I see God working like that, only with a passion for love and redemption for all of us, instead of vengeance. He sets things in motion that we cannot see or understand. He has a plan to save us way before we even know we are lost. And we each play a role in His master plan to bring about the changes in the lives of others.

I cannot wait until I can see from the other side of this mortal life and can examine the Master plan and can see clearly where I have helped in others’ lives and they have helped in mine. Is God’s method of using human agents to work out His will any less divine than direct intervention? I think not.

Watering Seeds

Something truly amazing happened to me this week: a dear friend of mine accepted Christ and was baptized on Sunday! While I can't take credit for leading her to Christ (that is the Holy Spirit's job), I was able to be a part of the process. A few of us have been praying for this dear sister for years. We offered her support, I shared my book with her, I brought her a Bible and explained how it is organized and how to find the information she needs within it, and another friend took her to some meetings at her church. And she met God and was changed.

I am so humbled and honored each time God allows me a small part in His plans. He could easily change each one of us without any human interference, but instead, He chooses to let us be his "body" on earth and to do His work down here. Us. With all of our flaws and insecurities and ineptness. He gives us encouragement and guidance, and then lets us have a part in making miracles happen in each other's lives. What an amazing gift! I am truly blessed. I love God more and more every day, and I can't wait to meet him face to face!

A Miracle

I can't describe it as anything but a miracle. I am used to writing whole chapters, not pages, so I will try to keep it short without missing the important points:

If you have been reading this blog, you know my struggles with prayer, "Why, How, Does it help?" etc. You also know that I have a very hard time praying out loud, with other people around (which is one more reason to do it). Well, my coworker, Julie, recently suggested that we pray together in the mornings. Now, I already pray every morning, once with my daughter, and once on my own, but I need the practice praying with others, and it certainly doesn't hurt anything, so I agreed.

Also, I have been praying specifically (on my own) for God to change my way of coping with things. I am a type-A personality. I worry and fret about everything. I am a perfectionist. I cannot delegate anything on my to-do list, because it may not get done the way I want it done. (Or, it may not get done at all, or it may cause some disaster that I will have to fix later). I am driven to be the best at everything I do. And it is all overwhelming! Sometimes I am so pressured and overloaded that I break down in tears. I have been praying for deliverance from this for so long.

Now for the miracle:

This Monday was "one of those days." Everything went wrong. It had been a terrible weekend, and I am the manager. So my to-do list included a lot of investigation and damage control.

I have a patient with a very difficult family, that luckily lives several states away. Howeve, they came to town over the weekend, and of course, the patient had an event that was mishandled while they were there. Oh, how I wished it had been some other patient! I didn't want to deal with this family.

I also had a total of 6 incidents (falls, minor skin issues) that needed investigation (the investigation often takes up to 2 hours each to complete all the paperwork). Six is my all time record, by the way. Also, we somehow sent a dementia patient to the doctor, when she actually did not have an appointment. And no one went with her. The family was mad, the doctor's office was mad (and called me 5 times to make sure I knew it). And several personal items were reported missing from various rooms over the weekend. Additionally, the doctor made rounds, there were orders to take off, and it was the day I normally do wound assessments, which takes about 2 hours.

Luckily (providencially?) I had help. Julie started the day with prayer; the social worker also joined us. Julie handled many of the tasks, even taking on one of the incident investigations and handling all of the doctor orders. One by one, the problems all got handled. (Even the ones I didn't take care of myself...hmmm). My patient returned safely (everyone was upset, but she was safe, and that is what mattered most). All of the work got done. Most everyone was pleased by the end of the day, even the difficult family. Best of all? I never cried. I knew that God was with me, that I could trust him to handle it all, to give me the skills, the words, the help, and the time to pull it all together. And I felt at peace with it all for the first time ever!

This may not have involved burning bushes, flying angels, or other supernatural events, but for God to change a heart like mine, to free me from worry and anxiety on a day like this, let there be no mistake, was nothing short of a miracle!

How Big is God?

Do you ever have those moments when something you have known forever suddenly hits you in a completely different way? I have recently had just such an experience.

It started when I went on vacation. My husband and I flew across the country to visit our kids. We were taking turns as to which of us got the window seat. On one of my turns, we were flying through the clouds. Some of the time, the clouds were light and were spread out enough that we got occasional glimpses of the landscape below. At one point, however, the clouds became so dense that they completely obscured the wing of our plane, just feet from our window. The though hit me, "How does God see us through the clouds?"

I was struck by how awesome God is that He can look out from wherever His throne happens to be in the heavens, across the galaxy, through the atmosphere, through the shell of the plane, to see me sitting in my seat!

Then I started imagining how God could not only see me seated on that plane, but, simultaneously, He could see someone else in Africa or China, around the curve of the earth! In my finite mind, I always consider that by being made in God's image, that somehow God should be confined by the same boundaries that limit my human existance. It amazes me that God can have an existance, as a Being, with a shape and form, and yet He can not only be right with me wherevere I am, but He can actually live inside me, and millions of other people as well, all at the same time.

I have always known this about God, since I first became a Christan, but somehow the concept took on a fresh, new meaning that day. Then, a few days later, I was in my car, singing my little heart out to a CD of praise music, and suddenly I had this thought that God was listening to me. Again, I always knew that He hears everything we say, but in that exact moment, I was more keenly aware than ever before that he was actually listening to me.

I started thinking that if it were anyone else, I would immediately stop, as I am not exactly musically talented, but I felt strongly that God loves my praises to Him, no matter what key I'm in (or not in). That led to the thought that even if I were to keep silent, God would still hear me. If I think any thought, or feel any feeling, God knows all about it.

It amazes me to know that God can see me no matter where I am, inside or outside, and that He can understand me, whether I express my thoughts to Him or keep silent.

"Nothing in all creation can hide from him. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes..." (Heb 4:13, NLT). The best news is that even though He is bigger than anything we can understand or explain, and He knows our innermost thoughts, He loves us and desires a personal, intimate relationship with us!