“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
As I walked out of the field hospital a few nights ago, I was in awe of many things surrounding that day and the movement of the Lord in our ward, but especially the way that God was at work in the heart of one patient in particular. I truly don’t know that I have ever been so energized after a twelve hour shift in my entire career.
That day I was able to spend a few hours talking with one of our patients in the ward. I cannot continue on without acknowledging how incredible that is. I got to spend HOURS talking with my patient. I eventually returned to my computer, preparing to begin playing ‘catch up’, but instead being immediately met by my coworker telling me that everything was caught up and the rest of the patients were all doing well. What a beautiful work environment this is and oh, how thankful I am for the team that God has brought together for this response.
What started as a few words of comfort with my patient in the midst of great fear and anxiousness turned into an opportunity to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I cannot even begin to put words to how evidently present the Holy Spirit was in the midst of every detail in this conversation. If I could tell you the details I would, but I can’t because I cannot recall most of what I said.
But what I can tell you is this.
My patient said that he didn’t want to be in the hospital. God said, “I work all things for good.” (Romans 8:28)
My patient said that he felt surrounded by darkness. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Who ever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
My patient said “I am afraid to die.” But God says, “There is no fear in love” and Jesus has gone to “prepare a place for you” that will be “better by far.” (1 John 4:17, John 14:3, Philippians 1:23)
My patient cried, “Why me? Why didn’t I die? Why am I still alive?”. God says, “I wrote your days before you came into existence” and “I have a plan for you.” (Psalm 139:16, Proverbs 3:5-6)
At one point near the end of our conversation, my patient dove into the details of his journey to our hospital bed. He explained that as he first began to feel sick, he attributed his symptoms to a sinus infection, and refusing to get tested, picked up some sudafed and went back home. His symptoms continued to worsen, keeping him from the every day functions of life including work and sometimes even getting out of bed. At some point the symptoms became bad enough that he decided to be tested for the virus, and much to his surprise, it came back COVID positive. “I tried to ride it out,” he said. His condition continued to worsen, leading him to a sleepless night and the decision to come into the hospital. He told me, “I just couldn’t catch my breath.”
Having already shared the the gospel with this man, the Holy Spirit led me in saying something to the extent of, “You know, that’s a lot like our walks with Christ. In the beginning, we don’t know that He exists or we refuse to acknowledge his presence. At some point in time, we realize that He exists, but we don’t want to engage with Him. We want to “ride it out” on our own, but eventually, as our condition worsens, our brokenness and our hurt, we need to go to the hospital. We need to see the doctor, the Healer of our sins. We need to engage with Jesus that we may walk away healed.”
I have continued to think about this analogy ever since the moment that the words left my mouth. We are a sick people in need of a Doctor. Our enemy wants to blind us from Christ, our flesh wants to “ride out” this life on our own, but at some point we need to fall at the feet of our Lord and Savior.
Just as my patient blamed a sinus infection when the real issue was COVID, we can be so quick to mislabel our sin as something that appears much less significant. Just as my patient took home sudafed instead of the proper treatments for COVID, we are prone to buy into the wrong treatment for our brokenness. Just as my patients symptoms worsened, so too, will those of sin. Just as my patient became unable to perform his daily activities of life, we can become disabled by sin. And just as my patient got to the point of breathlessness as he tried to “ride it out”, we too will run out of breath to breathe if we try to do this on our own.
We just simply cannot do it. Neither you nor I can do this alone. Neither you nor I can ride it out to the end. Neither you nor I will ever find the cure to this sickness without going to the Doctor.
As my coworker shared during devotionals today, there is a greater sickness than COVID manifesting in this world and my friends, there is only One cure. There is one Doctor. There is one Hope. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And you and I? We are called to get people to the hospital. We walk by people that are struggling to catch their breath every single day. How can we continue to walk by without offering to take them to the hospital? At the very least we can offer a few tips on breathing!
A few hours after my shift had ended that night, I received a message from the night shift nurse in my ward. Not only had our patient made his way to the hospital, but he had officially accepted the help of our one true Doctor and Healer of all. That night, God met a man filled with fear and anxiety in a hospital bed and He lavished him in His love. Welcome to the family, Brother.
