December 14, 2018; Someone Was There

SOMEONE WAS THERE….

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze. (Isaiah 43:2 NIV)

Last night as I was working through an earlier version of this devotion, I felt a sharp pain at the back of my neck. I believe that I must have thrown my neck out due to a bad posture on my part. The pain got worse. I went to my bed upstairs. To my surprise as I lay in bed, I lost control of my arms and legs. I could only move my neck, but the pain was still there.

Lorie and I decided to call 911. The ambulance came. They had to take me out on a stretcher to the ambulance. This was the first time I had been in an ambulance. When I got to the ambulance, I could not move my arms and my legs. By the time I reached Credit Valley Hospital, I could move my arms and my legs. While I was waiting to be registered in emergency, I could also move my back and the rest of the body. However, through the whole night, the back of my neck felt stiff and still feels stiff.

As I was going into a room for my first set of blood tests, Pastor Ian McWhinnie of Glenbrook Church was there. I was shocked. Lorie had called his home earlier when I was in the ambulance to let him know about these developments. Ian was there to let me know that I was not alone in my predicament. He also prayed with me. Lorie then came. Then both of them prayed with me. Ian went home not long after as it had been a long day for him.

They did blood tests, a CT scan and X-rays. They all came back clear. I am scheduled for an emergency MRI soon. Lorie and I got home at about 5 am. It has been a long night.

When I look back at the past 12 hours (it is now about 9 am Friday morning), I sensed that as I went through the entire medical process, someone was there with me; whether it was Luke and Lorie at the home, the ambulance attendants, the nurses and the doctors. Most of all, I was touched by Ian’s waiting presence. However, the presence of these people point to a greater presence, that of God. As Isaiah 43:2 says, when we pass through the waters, God is with us. The rivers will not overwhelm us. When we walk through the fire, we will not be burned.

Pastor Pye