laughing in a hospital room
I’m blogging right now from the foot of my wife’s hospital bed.
Nothing too serious, and normally it would just be considered just a massive stomach bug, but when you’re 22 weeks pregnant with your first child, it’s a massive stomach but that requires medical attention.
This is definitely not a good thing, but my understanding of faith when bad things happen has changed over the past few years.
Growing up in church, I pretty much understood from the Christian culture that it was best to pray for God to keep us healthy, safe and blessed. When any of these things are compromised, it’s okay to “slip” a little in your faith. To vent in frustration about your life. To be disappointed in God for “letting this” happen. Etc.
Of course, this way of understanding God is why so many people look at those of us that follow him and laugh.
It’s nonsense that the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe’s job is to make my life more convenient by appeasing my every wish and desire. He’s got to be up to something bigger than me in this world – otherwise he is way too small and I have made myself out to be way too big of a deal.
Central to the story of following this God is the change we go through that allows us to live as different people in the good times and the bad. And honestly, I don’t have this worked out yet. But I think that may have been what Paul had in mind when he wrote, continue to work out your own salvation.
God had not let us down because Emily was violently ill. After all, he had provided health insurance, a good hospital, medical staff who know what they’re doing and all the strength we needed to show the hope our faith brings us in the good times and the bad.
When we arrived at the hospital today, we were laughing. Laughing about the green bicycle flag that was strapped to the wheel chair I was rolling Emily through the parking lot and hospital in. Laughing at how there is no cool way to wear a hospital gown. Laughing because we had peace. And hope.
P.S. A little Phenergan and a bag of Lactated Ringers and Em is well hydrated, resting and doing better.
Great post. I follow you on twitter, and just randomly (if I believed in randomness) clicked on the link to this post. But it’s interesting, because I was just having this long and frustrating discussion with a friend last night. Some things have gone wrong in his life, and he is seriously questioning his faith. He’s blaming God because things haven’t gone the way he wants them to…but he also can’t see the error in his thinking.
If you could pray for my friend Mike, I would appreciate it. I suspect that he is battling serious depression. But he is also battling some very immature ideas about God.
I will pray for everything to go smoothly through the rest of the pregnancy, but I will also pray a more important prayer – that God would be with you and to guide you as you continue to work out your salvation.
Every blessing!