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Cal's Pastoral Epistles
"The Waiting Room"
February 9, 2011
I never want to see the waiting room outside the ICU ever again. It is a
place where helplessness and frustration reign. In that room you are
confronted with the simple fact that sometimes there is nothing you can do
to change something that has happened to a loved one.
Of course that is my job. I am the pastor. So I was back in the ICU
waiting room this past week. A friend's husband had been rushed to the
hospital. His throat had closed up. He couldn't breathe. The doctors and
nurses worked diligently on him. In the end he was put on a ventilator. For
the next three days his family sat and waited to see how things would turn
out.
I can't tell you why things like this happen. Books have been written
trying to answer the question as to why bad things happen to good people.
Moments like this come out of the blue. They always take us by surprise
and leaving us asking why.
It is easy to look up and blame God. God is supposed to be in control. Is
God who He says He is? Why would a good God let something like this
happen if he is love? It doesn't make sense. The truth is that a lot of what
we say about God is our projection onto Him of what we think He should
be. When we look at the scriptures and read the testimony of those who
had encounters with God, we see a different picture.
God is good. He is love. Yet he allows the natural realm to move in an
orderly and predictable fashion. The laws of physics affect actions and
reactions. God doesn't suspend the natural order very often. I think there
was one time in scriptures where he stopped the rotation of the earth so that
the sun stood still in the sky for a day. That's one time in millions of years.
What God has promised is that He would not forget us and leave us alone.
He promised to be with us in the day of trouble. We see this time after time
in scripture. God is there with those who weep and mourn. God is there
with those who are losing hope. God is there with those who are in
captivity or in exile. He suffers with us and cries with us too.
So maybe the waiting room outside the ICU is not such a bad place. It is
the very place where God can be found and prayers are heard. He brings
comfort in the company of friends. When Jesus said, "Wherever two or
more are gathered, I will be there," I think he was talking about places like
that. I know I felt God's presence as I sat with my friend this week.
I pray that you will feel his presence when you walk through the valley of
the shadow and know that God will be with you, to strengthen and comfort
you. May He bring light into your darkness and hope to your tomorrow.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
February 9, 2011
I never want to see the waiting room outside the ICU ever again. It is a
place where helplessness and frustration reign. In that room you are
confronted with the simple fact that sometimes there is nothing you can do
to change something that has happened to a loved one.
Of course that is my job. I am the pastor. So I was back in the ICU
waiting room this past week. A friend's husband had been rushed to the
hospital. His throat had closed up. He couldn't breathe. The doctors and
nurses worked diligently on him. In the end he was put on a ventilator. For
the next three days his family sat and waited to see how things would turn
out.
I can't tell you why things like this happen. Books have been written
trying to answer the question as to why bad things happen to good people.
Moments like this come out of the blue. They always take us by surprise
and leaving us asking why.
It is easy to look up and blame God. God is supposed to be in control. Is
God who He says He is? Why would a good God let something like this
happen if he is love? It doesn't make sense. The truth is that a lot of what
we say about God is our projection onto Him of what we think He should
be. When we look at the scriptures and read the testimony of those who
had encounters with God, we see a different picture.
God is good. He is love. Yet he allows the natural realm to move in an
orderly and predictable fashion. The laws of physics affect actions and
reactions. God doesn't suspend the natural order very often. I think there
was one time in scriptures where he stopped the rotation of the earth so that
the sun stood still in the sky for a day. That's one time in millions of years.
What God has promised is that He would not forget us and leave us alone.
He promised to be with us in the day of trouble. We see this time after time
in scripture. God is there with those who weep and mourn. God is there
with those who are losing hope. God is there with those who are in
captivity or in exile. He suffers with us and cries with us too.
So maybe the waiting room outside the ICU is not such a bad place. It is
the very place where God can be found and prayers are heard. He brings
comfort in the company of friends. When Jesus said, "Wherever two or
more are gathered, I will be there," I think he was talking about places like
that. I know I felt God's presence as I sat with my friend this week.
I pray that you will feel his presence when you walk through the valley of
the shadow and know that God will be with you, to strengthen and comfort
you. May He bring light into your darkness and hope to your tomorrow.
God bless. See you in church. Cal
Pastor Cal Lord writes these weekly epistles to
help us see God in every day things.
help us see God in every day things.
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