Update & Thought for the Day:
Today I have combined the Update with the Thought for the Day. For me
they were intertwined and I decided not to separate them.
I had a good visit to the eye doctor on Monday. Dr. Wu was very pleased that the swelling in
my eye has gone down substantially and my vision has continued to improve
marginally, and my retinopathy has stabilized following the laser treatment;
all good signs. I’m scheduled for
another round of eye injections in a couple of weeks and then another follow-up
evaluation in early June. He thinks that
I’ll need another round of laser surgery in a few months; the scary part of
that is with each successive laser surgery throughout the remainder of my life,
I stand a good probability of eventually losing my peripheral vision. With regular treatment and evaluation, Dr. Wu
says that I stand a good chance of maintaining my vision for many years. He believes it will be at least six months
before my eyes will have stabilized enough to consider getting a new
prescription for glasses. For right now,
I am stuck where I am at.
That is both good news and sobering news. In spiritual terms, that
causes me to give praise and thanksgiving to God for extending my sight while
at the same time crying out asking Him to maintain and possibly improve my
vision. It is a challenge of faith.
Humanly speaking, I am doing everything that I can to prolong my
vision—my diet is good, my health statistics are right where they should be,
and I am doing everything the doctor ordered.
Spiritually, I am continuing to rely upon God. I am striving to be content with where I am
at now and not become anxious about the future.
I could choose to worry myself sick about “what if I go blind.” Instead, I choose to leave all that anxiety
in the hands of God. He’ll take care of
me and I trust that He will be with me no matter what the outcome is.
While I hope that I have at least 30-40 more years of vision, if I
don’t—I am confident that God will provide.
I know that there are no guarantees.
And I’ve made my peace with that.
I suppose that like most things; this feeling of peace will need to be
maintained by continually feeding my soul during my devotional bible reading
and prayer time. I will also need to
continually choose to trust in God as my situation changes. This isn’t a once for all kind of thing. I am comfortable in declaring at the outset
that I have total faith and confidence in whatever God sends my way. That’s a scary thing to put into words
because God is under no obligation to answer my prayers the way I would like
them to be answered; but nevertheless it is true.
I spent some time reading and feeding my soul on Psalm 91 as I thought
about all these things on Monday night.
I felt confident in God’s love and gave Him praise for His promises and
for what He has done so far; and I also spent some time in tears as I dealt
with my fears and gave them to Him. Here
are the opening and closing verses of Psalm 91:
Psalm 91:1-2, 14-16 1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the LORD,
"My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
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14 "Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will
protect him, because he knows my name. 15 When he calls to me, I
will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor
him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my
salvation."
My prayer for you is that you might give God whatever keeps you awake;
whatever causes you to worry; whatever
troubles your soul. Sometimes it isn’t
easy to do so. It takes a step of
faith—trusting and believing in Him and what He has said. At times we might need to go over those
promises and those truths over and over again until they become more real to us
that our circumstances. Sometimes we
might need to lean on a friend and allow his faith to strengthen ours.
God may not remove or rescue you from your circumstances; but He can rescue
you from the fear of them. May you find
the peace and rest that you need in every situation that you face.
Psalm 4:8 “In peace
I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.”
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