Thinking Like a Human
My dear friend, Bruce
A dear friend is facing a very serious situation this morning. As I publish this, he is undergoing a delicate operation at Sloan Kettering to remove a cancerous growth in a gland on his face.
There is little I can do, but pray.
I pray, because I want God to do something for me, for my friend, Bruce, for his family, for his grandchildren. This is a time for faith and trust. It is no time for doubt and fear.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor your ways my ways, says the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9
Though I am made in God's image, I am not of the same mind as God. Isaiah tells us God's thoughts are not like ours. That is an upsetting and frightening reality. It can shake my faith, if I let it.
I like to think all will work out, and by that I mean the way I want it to. It doesn't work that way, does it?
Here is the problem. What do I pray for if God's mind is made up?
I pray that the surgeon's hand is steady and sure.
I pray that all traces of the cancer are removed.
I pray that it hasn't spread.
I pray that God hears me.
I pray that God's thoughts are my thoughts.
I like to think that it is all in God's hands, but God gives us hands to work for him, through him and in him. Bruce's outcome is in human hands, and while I pray for God's help, I am really praying for the Spirit of God to guide the human hands, minds, emotions, and souls.
I can't just put all the pressure on God. As a friend, as one who cares and loves a brother, I need to be doing something. Maybe that is what it means to think like a human, but that is all I have. So, I pray to give up what I have to those who need it so they can be a help to Bruce.
I pray my strength to support the weakened.
I pray my faith to support those in fear and doubt.
I pray my confidence to straighten the backs of those who are trembling.
And I pray that God is with them all, today and always.