Post 43-Was God in Pittsburgh?

                                                  

Dana wrote John on Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 9:45 AM

Hi John,

     Sorry for the delay in contact.  Last week was an absolutely bone crunching difficult week.  We visited Trish’s new doctor in Monroeville, PA, just across the river from Pittsburgh.  The first doctor who Trish saw at the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) back in 2011, left Pennsylvania to return to the southern Georgia/northern Alabama area, closer his childhood home.  The hospital situation near him, he felt, was not advanced enough to handle her particular needs, so he sent us back to Pittsburgh.

     Nothing is ever as simple as it might appear, and Trish is the poster child for that.  When confirming the appointment, we were informed by UPMC personnel that UPMC had become its own insurance agency, and would only take its own insurance.  Our Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy was about as worthless to UPMC as is Confederate money.  We were welcome to come, but would have to pay every nickel out of pocket.

     That being the case, Trish’s doctor (in Georgia) then referred her to a colleague and student of his, a doctor in Monroeville, who is connected with a different network of hospitals who do accept standard medical insurances.

     The days we spent in Monroeville were grueling, in that they were consumed with medical testing.  The pressure in the left side of Trish’s heart is almost 3 times that which is considered normal.  This pressure backs up into her lungs, and causes her to be continually out of breath with even the slightest exertion.  The cause is quite complicated, and points back to surgeries she had over a quarter century ago.

     Trish’s first Pittsburgh doctor and her new one (who worked closely with the first doctor) have as much work to do to try and whittle down the cause of her problem, as they will have in treating it.  It’s not at all cut and dry.  Some of the testing they would like to do, like a cardiac MRI, is impossible because of metal in her body from previous procedures.  Other testing just doesn’t give the same results.  So they are doing the best they can with what they have, but it’s not easy, and there are several potential culprits at play.

     The two doctors (the new one and her doctor in Georgia) are two of the finest physicians in their field, and it is the blessing of God that she has them.  Not only are they extremely intelligent and highly skilled doctors; they are also the most decent and caring of people, with both of whom we have felt extremely comfortable.  They are doing all they can to alleviate Trish’s symptoms, and they are doggedly pursuing all options to determine the actual cause(s) of her present condition.  But again, it’s not that simple.

     In one instance, they needed to do a ct scan that included dye.  Tests revealed her heart rate was elevated, and her kidney function was low.  So before the ct scan could be administered, Trish had to have an IV bag of fluid which took three hours.  Sometimes just sitting around waiting can be as tiring as physical exercise. And when we left for home, we really didn’t know a lot more than when we first went.  The jury is still out on the cause, and more testing is in order.  Her new doctor is trying to locate a doctor closer to where we live with whom to work to that end, and save us some travel time and expense.

     Upon returning home, we had to turn around and go out of town to a friend’s wedding.  Then returning to work, I found that being away for a week left me a month behind.  It’s a tough time, John.

     Without seeming overly spiritual, I have wondered about just what God might be doing in all of this.  Clearly with the blink of His eye, or the wave of His hand (anthropomorphically speaking) this could all be fixed.  But it hasn’t.  People have prayed; many people.  Trish has been anointed with oil, and prayed for by the church leadership, with the entire congregation coming to the front to join in.  God has heard, and in many ways He has acted, but still…here we are.

     It should not be construed by the above that I’m beginning to doubt or am having second theological thoughts. Not at all. I’m not even asking God why, in a manner that would challenge His perfect will, or call Him into account.  On the contrary, we have abundantly seen God’s hand at work all throughout this ordeal, going back to 2010.  He has helped, guided and provided for us every step of the way, and His goodness fits in the category of the Psalmist whose “…cup runneth over.” 

     While on one hand, we continue to pray for healing, and for the grace to persevere until that healing in whatever form God might choose to employ it, manifests, on the other hand, I have to wonder just in what direction God might want us to pray?  It has been said, that God answers prayers in one of three ways: “yes,” “no,” and “wait.” We find ourselves for now in what I’m assuming to be the “wait” category.

     The overarching theological question with which I am wrestling—and I am wrestling, because it is hard to see one you love suffer, and to see that suffering protracted...for years.  It’s frustrating and discouraging to invest so much time, energy and money (the medical business is not cheap) with no satisfying or lasting results…and I realize that we are not alone in this, so I’m not crying, “Oh poor me (or us).”   

      But to get back to my theological question; which takes more faith, to trust God for healing, or to just trust God anyway, even when the healing hasn’t and doesn’t come?  The outcome of all this is in His hands.  Like I said, a blink of His eye, the wave of His hand, or even the slightest whim of His thought could rectify this situation immediately, but that hasn’t happened.  I’m seeing that it’s not the result for which we need to trust God, but to trust the God of the result, whether He issues it or not.  We trust God for who He is, not for what He does.

      That sounds so pious, doesn’t it?  Well, it’s not.  Trusting is hard won when you’re in the thick of it—the time when you need to trust the most.  The world, the flesh and the devil all work overtime to defeat, to demoralize, to physically, mentally, and spiritually exhaust, and to cause doubt.  Spiritual warfare is not for sissies.  Jesus knew this from His time in the wilderness. Paul knew this too, as I’m sure most of the early Christians did. 

      There are times when the only thing on which to hang your hat, is the conviction that when the chips are down, God is using all the experiences of our lives to make us more like Jesus.  Romans 8. I think I will get that tattooed on my forehead backwards, so I can read it every time I look in the mirror.  That’s a nice thing on which to fall back, even when it’s not apparent.  Sometimes it’s the only thing we have in this life to give us meaning.

     If you would like to use this for a blog topic, it’s OK.  I’d certainly welcome the prayers for Trish from anyone who might read this and feel so inclined.  Habakkuk teaches us that God is worthy of trust and praise, despite the circumstances that confront us.  And as dire as those circumstances may be, still it is, in light of them, and especially in light of them, to recall to mind the words sung by Bing and Rosemary in Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” “When I’m worried and I can’t sleep, I count my blessings instead of sheep, and I fall asleep counting my blessings….”

     Now I guess it’s time to practice what I preach.

     Thank you for your and Carol’s prayers,

 

      Dana

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John adds a PS on Sunday, June 25, at 6:12 AM

Hello Everyone

            You’ll have noticed that the art work at the beginning of the post is the Caduceus, what many in America consider to be the “universal” symbol of medicine and the medical arts. If you Google it lots of Greek or Roman mythology stuff comes up surrounding it. Why would I use this to introduce Dana’s post this week?

            I believe several things are evident in what he wrote: Dana’s love and concern for his wife; his trust in the medical profession, and his faith in God and His word.

            However, I see the Caduceus as a reminder of the following scripture, Numbers 21:6-9:  

            The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died...And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.' And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it upon the pole; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.

            In this account, God could just as easily have spoken the Word, “Be Healed,” and all those who were bitten would have lived, without the need to look to the pole with serpent. What the medical odyssey of Trish and Dana’s touching yet gut wrenching description shows us is that if we are saved, and if we trust the God of Creation to be leading us, and if we can come to the place of trust in what in Jesus has done, in spite of what’s happening around us, then we will have done all to stand. Then we can rest in the victory that God is God, and we’re not, and as our loving Father, His answer to our prayers is the best answer.

            As Dana wrote above, spiritual warfare is not for sissies. But though the struggle he has learned to rest in Him. In closing, the words to Jean Sophia Pigott’s 1845 hymn Jesus, I Am Resting, Resting seem to best describe the place that Dana has reached, and that all of us should strive to reach also.

     Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon thee,
As thy beauty fills my soul,
For by thy transforming power,
Thou hast made me whole.

    

     Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
    

     O how great thy lovingkindness,
Vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous thy goodness
Lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in thee, Beloved,
Know what wealth of grace is thine,
Know thy certainty of promise
And have made it mine.

     Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
     

     Simply trusting thee, Lord Jesus,
I behold thee as thou art,
And thy love, so pure, so changeless,
Satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings,
Meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings:
Thine is love indeed.

      Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.
    

    Ever lift thy face upon me
As I work and wait for thee;
Resting 'neath thy smile, Lord Jesus,
Earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory,
Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting,
Fill me with thy grace.

     Jesus, I am resting, resting
In the joy of what thou art;
I am finding out the greatness
Of thy loving heart.