10/31/2024
On many Fridays at work someone will ask me what my plans are for the weekend, and more often than not I will respond with "I don't know, I will have to check with my social coordinator." Of course I am referring to my wife, Ann, who keeps my life in order. Well, when I was recovering from Cancer surgery in 2015 she assumed a new role; she became my healthcare coordinator. Speaking of which, if she knew how often I wasn’t in bed during my recovery, when I should have been, I would most certainly have be in trouble!
The morning following my surgery I found myself wide awake at 3:30 AM, long before the sun came up, so like a child slipping out of his bedroom to watch cartoons before his Mom and Dad woke up, I found myself sitting in my comfortable prayer chair sending an update to friends regarding the outcome of my surgery. I must admit that I was a bit fearful realizing full well the trouble I would be in when Ann realized I was missing from our bed. LOL
An interesting thing about being sedated is that the anesthesia robs one of not only the memory of their surgical procedure, but also of much that happens in the hours thereafter. I remember very few details about the aftermath of my surgery that day except the nurses helping me into my car, Ann helping me get my Pajamas on, and a wonderful bowl of beef stew that Susanne, my sister-in-law, brought over. So, as I sat in my chair that morning, I was piecing together many of the details regarding my post-op from emails, and texts that Ann had sent our family during this period. I was doing this because she didn't have the email addresses of all those who had been following my cancer journey by lifting me up in their prayers.
In an effort to give them the news, as I really didn’t remember much of it first hand, I resorted to using the email (see below) that Ann had sent to our family and Sunday School Class when I came out of the operating room…
"Rich is out of surgery. Doctor thinks the cancer was contained. They will do a cat scan next week to be certain it's not in the lymph glands. Doctor said he really doesn't think it has spread. Great news! Thank you for your prayers! I'm waiting for Rich to come out of recovery then home.👍 Ann"
I sent more updates over the next few days, once I had received some verbal lashings when Ann realized I had escaped our bedroom, and after she was able to fill me in on the forgotten details that the anesthesia had stolen from my memory! It was as if I had been dead and then brought slowly back to life. I wonder if this is how Lazarus felt after he was raised from the dead, and if he had to be told of all that had transpired during the four days he laid dead before Jesus miraculously reawakened him?
“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
John 11:38-44 ESV
Interestingly, I had read a news article the week before regarding a fisherman who had pulled an apparently dead baby from the Mediterranean Sea following the sinking of a boat full of Syrian refugees. When asked about that moment he said something I will never forget…
“We were devastated because we thought he was already dead. But then we heard a groaning. At that moment, it was like we were given the world.” – Rescue Boat Captain
“Like we were given the world”... what a wonderful description of that moment, and reading it brought tears to my eyes! It was a description that could have described the moment when it was discovered that Jesus Christ had risen from the grave! This could have also described the moments following my surgery when I awoke to realize that God had touched me through the prayers of so many. Prayer often takes a life and restores it… whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, life is returned to us through it. In the moment following our realization of God having heard our prayers, or those of others, we are truly “given the world.” Today let’s reach out to someone in prayer, and ask the Lord to heal some illness, or aspect of their life. Let’s ask Him to give them “the world.”
Prayer:
Thank you Father for hearing our prayers, watching over us, and blessing us throughout our lives. Thank you for restoring our faith, our health, our mental stability, and so many other things for which we pray. In truth Father, thank you for having returned us to health, and having given us “the world”. Hear us Abba as we glorify you, and sing to you in Psalms, praising you, and worshiping you as we remember all you have given us in answered prayer. Hear the prayers of Jesus, and our brothers and sisters in Him, as they make intercession for us, and give us the life you have promised, and that they are requesting on our behalf. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God, whose will is without challenge, is perfect, always good, and forever done. Holy are you who gives life to the dead, and returns the lost to righteousness. Amazing is your Holy Spirit that gives us understanding, and restores to us the remembrance of your Word. How great you are Father, and how amazing your grace that flows through Christ and redeems us. Hear now our prayers, and give us the world as you address them.
Amen
“O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol;
you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,
and give thanks to his holy name.”
Psalm 30:2-4 ESV
“Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”
PSALM 103:1-5 ESV
Rich Forbes