“What God can do if we just let Him be God (instead of us)”
My dad took great pride in staying fit. He would get up at 5 am to do 100 sit ups and other exercises and then walk 5-8 miles. In 1975 a brand new gym opened in Wichita and of course my dad was one of the first to pay for a membership. Every day off, and many days after work, he would go there to work out and enjoy the wet and dry saunas they had also. I remember going with him to the spa one time in when my travels took me through Wichita, it was nice.
In January of 1976 I got a frantic call from my mom who informed me that something really bad had happened to my dad while at the spa. Later she called back and told me that he had a brain aneurism and needed to have “open brain surgery” ASAP. Back in 1976 the only way to deal with an aneurism was actual surgery. Do to the location of the aneurism; the doctor gave only a 10% chance my dad would survive the surgery.
At that time, I was in my final year of Bible School and ministry leadership training. The program had a strict “no leaving for any reason” policy and my request to go to Wichita was promptly rejected. My uncle, who was an IRS lawyer, called the Secretary Treasurer of the ministry and threatened to cut off all the financial giving my parents did if I were not allowed to fly to Wichita for the surgery. I was immediately pulled out of a meeting and told I would be picked up to head for the airport in 10 minutes. Who says money doesn't talk!
I got to the hospital a few minutes before my dad was wheeled off to surgery. Again, the doctor came in and talked about the 10% chance of survival along with the sobering warning that even if he did survive, he would probably have diminished mental abilities. My brother, sister, aunt and uncle looked like death warmed over. My dad, mom and I just smiled for we believed he would beat the odds because the three of us believed God's promises.
For the next 5 hours my relatives sat at one end of the waiting room reading magazines and making trips to the cafeteria while my mom and I sat at the other end by ourselves praying out loud and reading the entire book of Psalms to each other. There was absolutely no fear or anxiety in either of us. We just knew that everything was going to be fine.
Finally the doctor entered the waiting room shaking his head sideways. Immediately my relatives thought that meant my dad died on the operating table and some started weeping. Neither my mom nor I had any apprehension about what the doctor was about to tell us for we believed God took care of my dad.
The doctor stuttered around and finally blurted out that in all his years as a surgeon, he had never seen a surgery go as smoothly as with my dad. He announced that the surgery was not only 100% successful, but that my dad would suffered no damage whatsoever to his brain. The doctor then said that in his opinion, what had just happened was nothing short of a miracle. Rarely does a doctor use that word, but with a big smile on his face, he did. After seeing my dad briefly in ICU, I raced back to the airport to fly back to Ohio.
Amazingly, this same scenario was repeated in 1989 when my dad had an emergency major surgery to repair an aneurism in the major artery taking blood to the legs. Again, the doctor gave little chance of success, and again the same scenario was repeated in the waiting room during the 9 hour surgery. Once again, the doctor finally came out shaking his head while telling us the surgery was a complete success. He said the main reason it was so successful was because my dad was in such great shape for a 75 year old man due to his exercising and especially his long walks every day.
Three days after surgery my dad had a “code blue” in his hospital room. My mom (a retired nurse) snapped into action and the “crash cart” was wheeled into the room and they resuscitated my dad. The problem was fluid retention and once it was removed, he quickly recovered.
After my mom called me that Sunday morning, I called Beth at work and she immediately quit her job and I called my boss at work and said we were driving to Wichita and I had no idea when we would be back. We sat in the waiting room outside ICU that first night praying the powerful diuretics would do their job and they did. This time though, instead of leaving, we ended up staying for nearly 3 weeks to help both my dad and mom handle the situation.
In my life, I have witnessed the power of God manifested over and over again in my life as well as those I love dearly. I have seen and experienced God's amazing healing power, His incredible ability to move mountains and His willingness to do exceeding abundantly above all I could every ask or think. When I look back on the past two months, I can say with boldness and thanksgiving that God is still God and He has not changed one bit since 1976 or 1989.
God can do what no man can ever do. God will always honor His promises and do what He has said He will do. Our problem is not with God's ability or willingness but rather with our willingness to squash fear, ambush anxiety and rise up in our faith to claim God's promises He has given to us in Christ Jesus.
In January of 1976 I got a frantic call from my mom who informed me that something really bad had happened to my dad while at the spa. Later she called back and told me that he had a brain aneurism and needed to have “open brain surgery” ASAP. Back in 1976 the only way to deal with an aneurism was actual surgery. Do to the location of the aneurism; the doctor gave only a 10% chance my dad would survive the surgery.
At that time, I was in my final year of Bible School and ministry leadership training. The program had a strict “no leaving for any reason” policy and my request to go to Wichita was promptly rejected. My uncle, who was an IRS lawyer, called the Secretary Treasurer of the ministry and threatened to cut off all the financial giving my parents did if I were not allowed to fly to Wichita for the surgery. I was immediately pulled out of a meeting and told I would be picked up to head for the airport in 10 minutes. Who says money doesn't talk!
I got to the hospital a few minutes before my dad was wheeled off to surgery. Again, the doctor came in and talked about the 10% chance of survival along with the sobering warning that even if he did survive, he would probably have diminished mental abilities. My brother, sister, aunt and uncle looked like death warmed over. My dad, mom and I just smiled for we believed he would beat the odds because the three of us believed God's promises.
For the next 5 hours my relatives sat at one end of the waiting room reading magazines and making trips to the cafeteria while my mom and I sat at the other end by ourselves praying out loud and reading the entire book of Psalms to each other. There was absolutely no fear or anxiety in either of us. We just knew that everything was going to be fine.
Finally the doctor entered the waiting room shaking his head sideways. Immediately my relatives thought that meant my dad died on the operating table and some started weeping. Neither my mom nor I had any apprehension about what the doctor was about to tell us for we believed God took care of my dad.
The doctor stuttered around and finally blurted out that in all his years as a surgeon, he had never seen a surgery go as smoothly as with my dad. He announced that the surgery was not only 100% successful, but that my dad would suffered no damage whatsoever to his brain. The doctor then said that in his opinion, what had just happened was nothing short of a miracle. Rarely does a doctor use that word, but with a big smile on his face, he did. After seeing my dad briefly in ICU, I raced back to the airport to fly back to Ohio.
Amazingly, this same scenario was repeated in 1989 when my dad had an emergency major surgery to repair an aneurism in the major artery taking blood to the legs. Again, the doctor gave little chance of success, and again the same scenario was repeated in the waiting room during the 9 hour surgery. Once again, the doctor finally came out shaking his head while telling us the surgery was a complete success. He said the main reason it was so successful was because my dad was in such great shape for a 75 year old man due to his exercising and especially his long walks every day.
Three days after surgery my dad had a “code blue” in his hospital room. My mom (a retired nurse) snapped into action and the “crash cart” was wheeled into the room and they resuscitated my dad. The problem was fluid retention and once it was removed, he quickly recovered.
After my mom called me that Sunday morning, I called Beth at work and she immediately quit her job and I called my boss at work and said we were driving to Wichita and I had no idea when we would be back. We sat in the waiting room outside ICU that first night praying the powerful diuretics would do their job and they did. This time though, instead of leaving, we ended up staying for nearly 3 weeks to help both my dad and mom handle the situation.
In my life, I have witnessed the power of God manifested over and over again in my life as well as those I love dearly. I have seen and experienced God's amazing healing power, His incredible ability to move mountains and His willingness to do exceeding abundantly above all I could every ask or think. When I look back on the past two months, I can say with boldness and thanksgiving that God is still God and He has not changed one bit since 1976 or 1989.
God can do what no man can ever do. God will always honor His promises and do what He has said He will do. Our problem is not with God's ability or willingness but rather with our willingness to squash fear, ambush anxiety and rise up in our faith to claim God's promises He has given to us in Christ Jesus.
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