We have officially entered the Christmas season. A time when unfortunately we all seem to go somewhat “wacko” with all the stuff on our plates. So our pastor feels led to preach on being prepared for the season. Are our minds focused on what it should be focused on – i.e. Jesus? Or have we taken our eyes off of our Lord and instead planted our minds on everything we need to get done before Christmas?
As I’ve been reflecting on the sermon, I remembered back to when we were getting our son ready to move out of state to college. How on earth was all this going to turn out? Jeffrey is full-time in a wheelchair with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Yet this college was his dream, and God had been opening all sorts of doors for him to leave home.
However my eyes were having trouble remaining focused on the Lord. There was so much that “I” needed to figure out before this all was finalized. I mean, what if his dorm room wasn’t safe? And what if the nursing care didn’t work out? What would happen if he was on one of the paths going around the campus and it was dark and he tipped over in his wheelchair and couldn’t get to his phone, and… well you get the picture.
“Lord – this is just too much for me! Why does everything have to be so hard!”
It was coming down to the wire. It was May, and we only had three more months until the big move. I felt like I was on auto-pilot, however I really wasn’t accomplishing anything except driving myself and my family crazy. Then it happened… I noticed a lump on my neck, which a biopsy showed was some sort of neoplasm cell lodged on part of my thyroid. Chance of cancer = 20 to 25%. The doctor stated it needed to be removed soon. The surgery date was scheduled less than two weeks before we were to move Jeffrey to Arizona!
If I was stressed before, I was over-the-top by this news as there were still a lot of issues which needed to get worked out. Yet I knew I needed to get the surgery done, so in I went. The evening before the surgery I was reading through Isaiah 26, and verse 3 popped out at me: “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Even though I had to be under general anesthesia, the physician saw no problem in me going home that same day, and being back up and around in just a day or two. Still plenty of time for me to finish things up I needed to get done.
But God had other plans…
Instead of being back to normal in just a couple of days, it took me well over a week for all the effects of the surgery and the anesthesia to work its way through me. I ended up being in bed almost the whole time before we left! What verse kept popping back to mind? “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.”
Wow – where had been eyes been focused these past months? They had not been focused up towards my Jesus in complete trust and faith in Him and all He had been doing, but instead had been focused on me. Forgive me, Lord…
Wouldn’t you know, the day before we were to leave on our long drive to move Jeffrey to Arizona, I woke up feeling completely back to normal. And, everything had “somehow” gotten done without me stressing – imagine that! Plus, the doctor called to let me know – no cancer!
So as we approach this Christmas season where we celebrate the birth of our Savior, join me in keeping our eyes on the real reason for the season, whose name is Jesus.
The God Of All Comfort 