Sermon 5

For Thou art with me

Passage: Deuteronomy 31:6
"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear. ~Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon

Okay, so my blog hasn't experienced this yet, but everyone who knows me well knows that I am able to convey my feelings best at times through analogies and stories. So here goes.

My father is a busy, hard-working man. He is a contractor, and instead of hiring a team of workers, people hire him, a one-man team. He has permanent tans from being in the sun so much, and he is so strong that he can lift things easily that I can't even budge. He obviously didn't need to work out constantly, since his job was like going to the gym. However, his dietary habits were questionable. Since he never gained weight, he never thought anything of having fast food and junk food often. It never seemed to affect him.
The key word here, folks, is seemed.
God created an intricate system of the body. If any little thing doesn't work just so, nothing really works and it shuts down. Well, my dad was not doing good things to his heart. One night, my mom made him go to the hospital with her when she woke up and heard him wheezing in his sleep. We live in Canada, so although we have free health care, we also have very long waits in the emergency room. The most urgent cases go in first, but with an ordinary problem like a bad stomachache, you can expect a couple hours of waiting. My mom talked to the nurse at the desk an told her the problems and all the necessary information. My dad went in immediately. As it turns out, his heart was failing and he needed to have an open heart surgery to fix it or else he would die. My mom booked a flight to the city they would have to fly to, and then came home in the morning.
Of course, I was not informed of this as I was too young and would have freaked. I got ready for school in the morning. My mom was home and I was told that my dad had gone to camp at the crack of dawn, which wasn't unusual for him. My older brothers all knew (all four of them), but my younger brother and I were left in the dark. Later, my mom told me that dad was sick and needed to visit a specialist in that city. I wasn't told anymore than that, and as I said to my friend later that night, this was what scared me most of all. My mom tells me everything. It wasn't until I was at church one Sunday, singing at the front of the church in the choir, that I found out. My pastor gave an extra prayer for my mom and dad, that they be safe on their journey and that my dad fare well as he underwent such a potentially dangerous surgery... my breath caught in my throat, and my oldest brother, who was standing next to me, grabbed my hand and squeezed it tight, whispering, "It's okay, I'll tell you everything later."
My dad needed that surgery. His heart was incredibly weak, operating at something like 20% what it is supposed to. The day before he was scheduled to actually have to surgery, he went in for the preliminary check-up. And the doctor asked him why he was there.
My dad was confused. He repeated how his heart wasn't working, and the doctor shook his head, saying that his heart was slightly weak, 70%, but it was rising steadily. My dad was shocked beyond words, and my mom turned to the doctor, who now had out dad's medical records and was reading through them carefully. She asked how this could be possible, and what had happened to make his heart heal so fast. The doctor sighed, and asked mom one question.
"Do you believe in miracles?"
That was the only way any doctor to this day can explain what happened.

I don't think I need to explain the application of my story. But my mom had requested prayers from several churches, and my dad is still alive and still a contractor. Sometimes, all that is required is to ignore your fears and walk head-first into trouble, praying and depending on God to protect you.

"Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me."
Psalm 23:4

This story is completely, 100% true. I promise.

~Godspede