"LAST MINUTES"
During one of Shane's routine new-baby checkups, his pediatrician
expressed concern that the soft spot on his head might be closing
prematurely. He referred us to a neurologist who, after an extensive
examination and X-rays, recommended surgery. The operation, he explained,
would require an ear-to ear incision and would take between five and seven
hours.
We were concerned about such lengthy surgery, especially with Shane's
heart condition. But after weighing the dangers of a premature closure, we
agreed to go ahead with the operation. The night before we were to take
Shane to the hospital, I lay awake, alternating between worrying and
praying. As a rule, the two don't go together, but every time I turned the
situation over to the Lord, I found myself taking it back again.
It's funny, isn't it? We can trust God to hold the entire world in His
hands, but we get nervous whenever we ask Him to hold our problems. I
don't know what time it was when I finally fell asleep. I do know it was
late, because when the telephone rang the next morning, I could barely pry
open my eyes. What the voice on the other end of the line had to say,
however, woke me up in a hurry.
It was the neurosurgeon. He explained that because of Shane's heart
condition, he felt it imperative to get a second opinion. He contacted the
head of neurosurgery at a local children's hospital. After studying the
X-rays, each determined that they had been misleading. The diagnosis had
been incorrect, and the surgery was canceled.
I knew a little how Moses felt when he got all the way to the banks of the
Red Sea before God parted it. Experiences like that are taxing on the
nerves. But when you think about it, God parted the sea when Moses
"needed" it parted. The surgery was canceled when it needed to be. It was
at the last minute, but last minutes are His minutes too.
- Excerpt from When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Start Laughing"
by Martha Bolton
(Submitted by: Camille Pierce)