We Either Trust Him Or We Don't

Tomorrow, I am going to have a "Manipulation Under Anesthetic" (MUA) done to my knee. It's like this, my knee has been immobile for months due to the fractured knee cap and as a result, it won't bend beyond 62 degrees. So, doc is going to anesthetise me and BEND IT. I'll be hooked up to a pain pump and have pain meds for a few days following. Probably a real good idea.

Knowing this procedure has been on the calendar since before Christmas, I have been asking God to please protect me from any colds, flus, or viruses going around since they won't put you under anesthetic if you're sick. My husband has been battling a cold since before Christmas that we thought was gone but now seems to have gone into his ears and a dear friend who visits me every week at least once developed asthmatic bronchitis (something I have a weakness for) a couple weeks ago. Yet with all these germs and bugs around me, I have walked through the water and fire untouched. Thank God.

Last night, I woke up with a coughing fit. I sometimes do that when I wake and I feel like something has gone down the wrong pipe and I'm choking. This usually happens when I'm battling the asthmatic bronchitis so to have this happen when I'm healthy is unusual. As I worked to pull myself together, coughing, tears streaming down my face, I couldn't help but notice that one side of my nose was all stuffed up. Panic kicked in.

"Please God!! Please God!! Don't let me get sick!! Please, don't let me get sick!!" I began thinking about how if I was sick, the surgeon would have to postpone my procedure. This in turn would take me into the next semester of seminary which begins next week and how would I possibly be able to have this done then. Then what if I would have to take another leave of absence from seminary, I would lose my scholarship. Then if I lose my scholarship, how could I afford to keep going... You get the idea.

Just then, I remembered a teaching by Beth Moore where she talked about trusting God. She described how we will be in a situation where we need something from God....like this situation I just described. We will tell Him how to fix it, do it, or provide it and then seal it with "...in Jesus' name". Then if God does not fix it, do it or provide it the way we wanted it, then we are down for the count. That, my friends, is not trust. We have to realize that God knows what He's doing and His ways are not our ways. His priorities are not our priorities. He has an eternal view whereas we have a worldly view. Everything we see here with our human eyes is temporary. Even our own bodies are temporary. He has a focus on our forever and what we go through here on this earth is preparing us for His eternal life.

When I got a grasp on this as I lay in bed, sipping on my water, I experienced such a sense of peace. I knew that God knows what's best for me. I want my eyes to be set on His kingdom and His ways and not the ways of this world.

Philipians 4:6-7 says, "Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses every thought, will guard your heart and your minds in Christ Jesus." Notice it says requests not demands. It also says that God's peace will guard us not that God will do exactly what we asked. We make our requests then we trust that God hears us and is the perfect Father knowing what is best for us.

Remember Jesus in the garden, as he prayed to God he said, "If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will." (Matthew 26:39b) That is trusting in the Father.

Think about how you pray and what your priorities are when you do. Do you truly trust God?? And by the way...I don't have a cold. I'm fine.