Divine Simplicity Focus on the things that matter…sweep aside the things that don't.

As I reported in April, I recently underwent major surgery.  Having never been under general anesthesia before, I was more than a little bit anxious about the entire procedure. It has been nearly two months since the surgery and I’m still in the healing process.  The procedure was conducted robotically and left seven scars on my abdomen.  The first time I showed the scars to my youngest grandson he said it looks like I was in a gunfight. I try to learn from every experience, whether good or bad.

I spent 24 years of my adult life as a commissioned officer in the US Army. During my military career, I learned a lot of life lessons—things that continue to help me today.  A wise Field Artillery battalion commander once told me, “It’s ok to make mistakes, but learn from them and avoid repeating them.”  Imagine a world where everyone lived by this axiom!

A lot of Army training events and operations conclude an After-Action Review, or AAR.  The AAR is a very open discussion about how the execution of an event went. The ultimate aim is to do better next time. AARs can be soul searching experiences. To understand my surgery experience, I ended up doing a lot of soul and scripture searching. Here’s what I learned from my surgery and the leadup to it.    

I spent a lot of time praying about this surgery. I suffered doubt more than once.  Should I do it?  Will it work?  Could I die on the operating table?  My faith was put to the test. Knowing my prayers were insufficient, I enlisted the support from a host of prayer warriors I knew I could count on.  I received many words of encouragement from these friends and I was comforted just knowing they were praying for me.  Lesson learned – don’t worry!

God is in Control: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6*

Psalm 55

²² Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.

God shows Himself in many ways and places.  You never know when He’s going to pop up and remind you that he’s present.  As I lay in the surgical ward around 9pm, still a little groggy from the lingering effects of anesthesia, I was surprised when a beep sounded from the hospital intercom and some kind soul began reading an evening prayer—I was in a Catholic hospital. What a wonderful way to mark my first night in hospital. Lesson learned – we shouldn’t need an intercom announcement to remind us that God is always there.  Just stop, look and listen.

Psalm 139

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹²even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

Within six weeks of highly invasive surgery, I was nearly back to normal. Lesson learned: The human body’s ability to heal itself is remarkable. God’s incredible design of the human body is so amazing that it is beyond human comprehension. The hand of God our creator is clearly evident in human anatomy.

            Psalm 139

¹³For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

My wonderful wife was my sole caregiver for nearly a month, while I was significantly incapacitated from the surgery. I could not have survived on my own. Early Christians stood out in Roman society for their willingness to serve the sick and outcast, including lepers.  Lesson learned: Christians are called to be caregivers.

            Psalm 2

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.                                                                         Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 

⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

The robotic surgery performed by my surgeon was truly remarkable, but it pales in comparison to the abilities of our Lord. While a surgeon can help your physical needs, Jesus offers spiritual healing for broken hearts and souls. He is truly the “Great Physician.”

The Great Physician Now is Near – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDfHFaJaTwk

*All Bible quotations are from the NIV.