I Know the Plans I have Planned for You…

This has become more than just a favorite verse for me, it has become a guiding spiritual principle for my everyday life. I actually believe God loves me more than my mother, father and both sets of grandparents combined! Not only does He love me, but He also has the power to bring to pass His absolutely best conceived plan for my life. I have experienced it just too many times to doubt it, and I have also seen it come to pass in the lives of so many others.
So here we are today, August 8, 2010. I am 58 years old and have never gotten around to having a colonoscopy. I know I was supposed to do it after I reached 50, but I figured I was in good health and would just wait until they could do virtual colonoscopies. Admittedly, to have the procedure done does seem to have become a badge of honor among the over-50 crowd I know. So, even the ladies are beginning to tell me to man-up and get it done!
Well, my wife (who had hers done 2 years ago) finally just made me an appointment – for today. I went for my consultation last week and decided I really could do this. Saturday night I started the prep and, as I went to bed last night, I decided this really wasn’t so bad. My wife was working the night shift at the hospital and I hoped to get a couple of hours of sleep between trips to the bathroom.
Just after 2 AM, I decided I needed to go again and stumbled to the bathroom in the dark. But this time I began to feel sick to my stomach and got really hot. I felt nauseous and thought maybe a drink of water at the sink would help. The next think I knew, I was lying on the cool hard ceramic tile floor of my bathroom and felt pain from my head to my foot. It was still dark and I just couldn’t quite figure out where I was. I staggered up to the sink one more time and, again, the next thing I knew was the cool hard ceramic tile floor of my bathroom. I had knocked things off my sink, including some items into the toilet, but got a drink of water, crawled back to bed and called my wife at the hospital. I felt quite weak and sounded a bit disoriented, but she offered some comforting words and gave me some advice like stay in bed before you really hurt yourself!  I have been known to faint at the sight of my own blood, but this was a whole new experience.
Well, I did survive the night and my buddy, Butch, got me to my procedure on time this morning. I told the medical people what had happened and they said the prep affects people in many different ways – so take off your clothes, put on these footies, this gown and your “party hat.” As I laid on that stretcher for about 30 minutes waiting for the “big event,” it hit me – here I was, after a rather scary night and facing something that I really didn’t want to do to find out something I really didn’t want to know, AND I REALIZED I HADN’T EVEN PRAYED TO TELL GOD WHAT I WANTED HIM TO DO FOR ME.
But, that was precisely the point. I really was resting in His plan for me…that it was still in-force…that it was for my good…and that it offered me a hopeful future. That’s why I did that prep stuff and that’s why I was lying here – God’s got my back! And I reaffirmed right then and there, whatever they find will be part of the plan and it will be good for me. I was going to be okay with that.
Well, I lived to tell this tale. I’ve got my badge of honor. Doc said I did so well that I don’t have to come back for 10 years. Now, about that dentist appointment…
Sincerely,
Pastor Gary Byers
Spiritual Life Director