God Directed Decision

 

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Genesis 25:7-8

New King James Version (NKJV)

⁷ This is the sum of the years of Abraham’s life which he lived: one hundred and seventy-five years. ⁸ Then Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.

When I turned 60, people began asking me when I would retire. As time went by, the question morphed into “Why haven’t you retired yet?” Had this question been asked by my colleagues, I would have taken it as a sign that it was high time I retired, and taken the hint, but it wasn’t. In fact, when I turned in my request in December 2012 to retire in July 2013, my colleague Vernon acted very surprised. He is within a very few months of being my age. “I planned to retire before you,” he exclaimed.

At many points in my life, including the decision to retire, I wished for a direct statement from the Lord telling me which way to decide. I would think back on Abraham’s experience. The Lord directed him to leave Ur. Later he was directed to leave Haran for an undisclosed destination. He was told that Ishmael was not his son of promise but to expect a child by Sarah. Eventually he was instructed to offer Isaac as a sacrifice. Then at the very time of slaying his son, he was restrained and given a ram in his place.

Once in my lifetime I feel I received direct communication from God. He had led us to devote our lives to working in Africa. When it came time for us to return to the U.S., it took direct communication to get us to actually accept that decision. I tell that story elsewhere and have not as yet posted it to the blog.

As I came back again and again to my question as to why God could speak so often to Abraham and only once to me, I finally did the math. God spoke to Abraham only about 4 times. He lived 175 years. That means that on the average, God spoke to Abraham about once every 44 years. So I should expect my next direct communication sometime before I reach the age of 88. Besides that, I have something Abraham didn’t have! I have the written Bible, God’s word that I can read for instructions. So I am not discriminated against! I am indeed favored.

Thank You, Lord, for speaking to me in many ways. I’m just sorry that, on occasion, You have to hit me on the side of my head with a two-by-four in order to get me to do Your will!

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Does God Tarry

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Psalm 27:14 American Standard Version

¹⁴ Wait for Jehovah:
Be strong, and let thy heart take courage;
Yea, wait thou for Jehovah.

 It was tedious being in Arlington Gardens Care Center rehabilitation center after a nasty bout with West Nile Virus. They had done great things for me. When I arrived there, I couldn’t walk. My brain fever had made me speak a bunch of rubbish. I was terribly weak from three weeks of lying in bed. My memory was totally shot. I lost at least five weeks, including three weeks in hospital, of memory about my own experience. I am eternally grateful for all they have done for me; but they didn’t want to quit.

Now I was walking around freely. They insisted I push a wheel chair or a walker wherever I went—not because I needed it to walk—they were afraid that if I fell, I would sue them. My blood pressure was down to less than 110/50, yet they threatened to force the blood pressure medicine down my throat if I didn’t keep taking it. I began keeping it in my mouth until I could get to the bathroom and spit it down the toilet. I urged them to remove my catheter, but they delayed on that for weeks. When they finally removed it, it became evident that it had caused a UTI. They refused to admit that it was true until I finally got the nurse to look at the blood in the toilet after I urinated. Then they delayed treating it for almost a week.

When I demanded that they release me, they threatened that if I walked out on them, they would notify Medicare, and I would never be able to get any rehab again. Why were they so anxious to keep me? I assume because they were making big bucks on me and didn’t have to do the usual nursing service for me. They indicated that the only way they could discharge me was for a committee to meet and discharge me. Most of the people on the committee didn’t know me. They had not even seen me. Their sole interest appeared to be the almighty dollar.

The day I returned home, at long last, I walked around the block our house is on. It’s about ¾ mile (about 1 km), and I made it just fine. That evening my legs cramped, which indicated that I had exercised them far more than they were used to.

I had indeed waited a long time for Jehovah. Maybe He had His reasons for keeping me in rehab for so long.

Thank You, Lord, for overseeing my life and welfare. You surely know what is best for me even when I don’t see it or understand.

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