I’m linking up with Holly Gerth at God-Sized Dreams today and this prompt really whalloped me over the head, so I decided to make it today’s prescription.
Could someone maybe have shared that little tidbit of information with me 10 years ago when I had my first grand-mal seizure?
I probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. I was too wrapped up in my own little pity party to hear what anyone else was trying to tell me…including God.
When I had the very first seizure and had to stop driving, I remember having the thought, “Okay God. I have no idea what’s going on but maybe you want David and I to spend more time together. Only one driver in the family will certainly increase some together time.” So I went with it. Briefly.
It wasn’t long before I got impatient (which is nothing like me 
,) and started searching not for the why this happened, but how to fix me. So instead of being alone with God, I brought in doctors, nutritionists, books, medicine, friends, chiropractors, needles (the acupuncture kind)…anything or anyone I thought would “fix” me. I’m sure the pharmacist in me (you know, the science nerd) wanted to know the answer—the cure. For seven years I searched for that cure. Then, in the midst of all that great fixing I was doing, I ended up hooked on narcotics. What a genius.
So all of this could have been avoided if I’d just let God “pull me aside for a bit?” UUGGGHHHH! I hope not. We do need to be still and listen. We do need to soak up the wisdom He as for us in his word. We do need to talk to Him…constantly. But sometimes, He needs to teach us more. And I think God was preparing me for one of his God-Sized Dreams, it just took me a few years to hear what he was trying to tell me.
As a pharmacist, I was essentially a drug dealer. Just legal.
Pain pills. Sleeping pills. Mood-stabelizing pills. Anti-anxiety pills. Antipsychotics. Amphetamines. So many addictive medications people are so desperate for. Sure I could tell them how to take them, the side effects, cautions, interactions…but no matter how much information I could give them, I had absolutely no understanding of the desperate, lonely place they were in. Their personal prison of drugs. Sure, they are prescription drugs, so our society accepts them as the norm. No one realizes the havoc they wreak internally and externally.
Yes, I’d say God pulled me aside for a bit. Seven years of a bit. But WOW, I never would have guessed the plan and purpose He had for me. Once I finally listened and heard, He healed me of it all…overnight. The good-old-fashioned-miracle kinda healing. My hubby, my kids, my parents, my in-laws, my friends…they all saw it. And God made it evident. No question about it. I was healed.
The paradigm shift God gave me during those seven years gave me a whole new perspective on people. God calls us to…
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
(Matthew 22: 37-40)
Love God. Love People. That’s it.
He doesn’t exclude drug addicts, sex offenders, homosexuals…no one. Do we have to love what they do? No. God just calls us to love them. Not their stereotype. Not their addiction. Not their appearance.
And I have to add how incredibly freeing it is to realize we are not the judge, God is.
So if something happens that interrupts your life, on matter how big or how small, seek God. See if He’s trying to pull you aside for a bit. Maybe if you listen a little better than I did it won’t take seven years! But however long it takes, trust me. It’s worth it.
Hi, sister God-sized dreamer! I agree with you about how freeing it is to realize God is the judge and not the other way around. And His love has no limits like our human love. I think He even wants us to even pray for the terrorists who were involved in the bombings yesterday. I tried to put that into action on my blog post today, but I suspect some people will be offended because they won’t get it. God’s love is too big for our human understanding. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Blessings to you, my friend!
Thanks Cheryl…I agree. We need to pray for everyone, but it is so hard for some to understand. You’re brave to address it on your blog…I haven’t even had time to post about the Boston bombs, only time to pray thus far. I’ll have to go check out your post. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Love this, Celeste — Love God, Love People. It’s the theme of a church I support in the inner city of Phoenix. Could it be any simpler?
I go to a huge community church and it’s our theme too. It should be a theme for all! So simple! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
I have gone through seasons of not being able to drive for medical reasons and it has always been such a depressing and frustrating time. Thank you for pointing out the way to true freedom!
It really stinks doesn’t it?!? Thanks goodness that time in my life is over! And true freedom is awesome!!! Thanks for stopping by Melissa 🙂
I went through a time following a car accident when a concussion completely incapacitated me and kept me stuck at home and having sleep and feel really miserable for a long time. For quite a while I just roamed around the kitchen saying “I just want to feel better.” Like a zillion times to my poor college-age daughter who kept telling me that was code for “Naptime.”
After a while God got ahold of me and showed me I needed to move from constantly focusing on “feeling better” to sitting and listening for what He wanted to teach me through it. That’s when it became rich and He did amazing things that I couldn’t have done myself. He does still do miracles! True that!
Yes! You get it! I just wish I’d gotten it a little sooner 😉 Seven years was a long time! Thanks for the comment Mari!