I was watching a movie today about a
military doctor who was assigned a patient with severe dental and lip
deformities, as a result of an automobile accident.
This surgeon took extraordinary measures to assist his patient, and spent multiplied hours planning the initial and subsequent actions. Never in his surgical career had he felt such empathy for a patient. Never in his life had he devoted such caring effort, or taken his responsibility so much to heart.
And though the young woman was gruesome to
behold, and though her injuries were the worst he’d ever witnessed, he
painstakingly went about his task. And for those several months and years he
assumed a duel role; that of physician and prophet. For he could virtually see the finished work before him. He
could see the invisible, as though it
were visible. And that energized him during periods of his own disappointment,
and his patient’s disbelief.
The young woman often lashed out at him,
wavering between despondency, anxiety, discouragement and outright rage.
Sometimes his patient’s immaturity surprised the doctor, and he could only
shake his head. But nothing deterred him from his task, and over many months, and
years he performed surgery after surgery, and with each operation his dream
took shape. And with each operation his young client seemed more confident
about the ultimate result.
The surgeon was doing the kind of
breakthrough, innovative work that had never been attempted, and his associates
and friends were often skeptical of the final outcome. More than once someone
accused the doctor of playing God. And though their remarks were critical in
tone, the physician chose to regard them as compliments.
And
what of the young lady, the recipient of all his skill and labor. Her facial
deformities became less obvious, less hideous to those who beheld her. And with
time the results of her unfortunate accident were almost imperceptible, until
all that was left was a slight scar on one edge of her recreated lips.
And her joy and the corresponding joy of her surgeon overflowed, and seemed to fill up the world around them. She was whole again. Her shame was vanquished. She no longer hid her face from approaching strangers, and her newfound smile seemed to light up the whole world.
And our young patient determined to give
back something of what she had received, and she began to impact one here, and
bless one there. And I think I forgot to tell you. Before her injury, our
little heroine had been a nurse. And she returned to her duties with more vigor
and more enthusiasm than she had ever felt before. For having once been a
patient, she could empathize far beyond theoretical. Dream had taken on
reality. Fog had taken on flesh.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that
“playing God” analogy, and at first glance it’s a repugnant characterization,
since there’s One God and we’re not Him. But that old adage, “Some people have
to have a God with flesh on” rings true. Why, just today, I received a call
from an anxious client, a client who has left her childhood faith behind, and
who disavows any further use for God. But I ministered to her, nevertheless.
And I like to think that she was comforted, and sensed a bit of God in me.
We have been given a rare opportunity; an
opportunity to play both prophet and God, and I say that with all due respect,
and submission to the only One and True God.
There are those in our midst who will
never excel, nor attempt to do so. There are those in our company who will be
content to squander their God-given hopes and dreams. There are those who will
make the cemetery richer; for the local cemetery is among the riches pieces of
ground on earth. It is filled with all the unexplored and unfulfilled dreams of
thousands of God’s creations; lying dormant, never to find fruition.
My message to you tonight is to look for
that one; that one person among many who displays the kind of unexplored, just
under the surface potential to be singular, to be great, to be used of Our
Lord. Look for that man or woman who can be shaped, molded, impacted; for that
one who, though sick, or sad, or even selfish has a pliable and contrite
spirit, and who is marginally, and increasingly ready to assume their God-given
place on the earth.
Inscribed on the Statue of Liberty is a
verse:
“Give me your tired, your poor, your
huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teaming
shore. Send these, the homeless tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the
golden door.” (Emma Lazarus)
Our mission is to people like that. The
tired, the poor, the huddled masses, the wretched refuse, the homeless. And we
have a lamp to light their pathway. And we offer them a golden door; a door
that leads to freedom.
But many will refuse our comfort, and many
will drift away. But if we can touch just one at a time. If we can make a
difference in one life at a time.
We
may not be able to change the world, but we may be able to change the world of
one person.
Pour your efforts into all; everyone who
seeks ministry, who seeks help, who pleads for deliverance. Do this. Do this.
But look for that one; that one who seems to
provoke you to do a little more. That one who not only needs a little more
attention, but who, by words or action, places themselves in your hands, and
bids you mold them into something lovely. Look for that one. Give your best
efforts to that one.
For
you are both a physician and a prophet. So reminiscent of that doctor who
bestowed his best labor on the little patient, earlier in this story. God bids
you pour healing suave in their wounds. He gives you dreams in the night on
their behalf, and provokes you to see the invisible and impossible. You are a
both a physician and a prophet.
Someone, a Very Dear Someone, once looked
intently at me and said, “You must have seen something in me”. And I responded,
“Indeed I did,” Another Precious Someone once mused, “You almost sent me away,”
and I replied, “I’m so glad I didn’t.”
Who can know how God may choose to multiply
our efforts through these precious souls who wait for us to touch, impact,
impress and mentor them?
Look for that One, that One who seems to
provoke you to do a little more. That One who not only needs a little more
attention, but who, by words or action, places themselves in your hands and
bids you mold them into Something lovely. Look for that One.
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "Unconventional Devotions" Copyright 2005
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