God is in control, so you can calm down and breathe as best you can. His grace will see you through.
https://joniandfriends.org/radio/#mentioned
I’m Joni Eareckson Tada with a few hospital reflections.
For the past couple of days, I’ve been sharing stories about being in the hospital. It was a few months ago with a respiratory infection. It was such a tough time. But, hey, I’m better, I’ve got my breath back. And I’m so grateful for the many people who prayed me back to full health. And now that I’ve had some space between me and that hospital, I’ve had a chance to reflect on how God used it. And, oh, did he use it to teach me some lessons. I remember one night in particular, it was so, so hard to breathe. I was in there for this respiratory thing and my breathing was so shallow, in my mind, I cried out to God in the night. And he gave me the tried-and-true verse that has often comforted me in the past. It was Psalm 62:8, “Trust in the Lord at all times.” Basically, it means he is in control and I’m not. So, calm down Joni, breathe as best you can, and his grace will see you through. And you know what? God did just that.
Another lesson. And this one happened on the third night of my hospital stay. I couldn’t sleep and on the other side of the wall, behind my headboard, I could hear a man groaning and calling out. I tried to ignore it, but I felt so badly for him. And there was nothing I could do – I heard a nurse in there with him. And so, I just prayed for him. I asked God to open this man’s heart to the Lord and rescue him. To comfort him, help him not to be afraid. Also, during daytime hours, there were occasional code blue calls over the loudspeaker. And no matter what we were doing; talking with a visitor, if I was eating lunch – dropped everything to pray for the soul of whoever it was who was getting CPR at that moment. As Christians, it’s the way a believer responds to a code blue call, or someone groaning or crying out.
Another lesson? And this one is one that you know well. In everything give thanks. And that means everything. Like, I know that hospital food automatically gets a bad reputation, no matter what’s being served, right? I mean because it’s, well, it’s hospital food. But when you give thanks for everything, hospital food begins to look pretty good. Even when I am home with Ken and we are saying a blessing over the meal, 90% of the time we acknowledge that most of the world would give anything to eat like we do. So, God, in the hospital, make us humble, God; make us thankful, too. And that’s exactly the way we prayed over whatever was on my tray from the hospital cafeteria. And for the women who brought my tray and took it away when I was finished? They always got a cheery thank you. And when the baked salmon was pretty good? I’d say, “Hey, would you please thank the food manager for a great menu!” And you know what? After doing that a few times? They actually sent up the hospital nutritionist to ask if I had any suggestions.
Okay, so, I could make an endless list of lessons I learned while in the hospital [and let’s see, one more lesson was, don’t turn on the TV; I mean the one in my room sat up there on the wall without me once turning it on]. Anyway, there are lots of good lessons and if you know someone who is in the hospital right now, I want to send you a wonderful gift you can give them. It’s John Piper’s book “Lessons from a Hospital Bed,” and you can get your copy at joniradio.org. A long or even a short stay in the hospital doesn’t have to be dreary and boring. And this great book by Piper gives thoughtful and practical suggestions for you to make the most of your time. So contact joniradio.org today and ask for your free copy of “Lessons from a Hospital Bed.”
© Joni and Friends