I think that I may be in the small minority of people who don’t mind being put to sleep when they must have surgery done at a hospital.
Let me explain: My Dad was a lifelong cardiac patient who had many medical emergencies over the years, most of them happening in the middle of the night. So, I learned to be a very light sleeper, and ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Once my children were born, as most mothers know, I still didn’t sleep throughout the night.
Even now, I am always ready for any emergency no matter what hour. If it means sleeping with one eye open and a set of car keys in my hand, then I am ready!
While I know that this is no way to rest, this seems to be a way of life for me. So, from time to time when I have had to be “put to sleep” for whatever procedure, I have welcomed the rest in a weird sort of way.
This past week was no different.
I had a scheduled surgery and was looking forward to a good ole nap! Once in the surgical room the nurse hooked me up to an IV, covered me in a warm blanket and walked away.
Oh boy. I was left in the quiet with nothing but glaring bright lights and a machine monitoring my heartbeat. That was about the time that the devil opened the door and sent fear walking in.
“What if this isn’t something routine? What if there is a problem and I don’t make it. What will my kids do without their momma? Who is going to help my husband do everything? There are still dishes in the sink, a pile of laundry, and I haven’t made any plans if I die. God, I really wasn’t planning on dying today.”
A moment later the nurse put some medicine in my IV, and I didn’t even have a second to settle any of those thoughts in my mind. So much for a good nap.
While I don’t remember a single thing about the rest I had for that short while, I sure remember the feeling of fear, and let me tell you, I am not proud of it.
I am a Christian. As such, I should not fear. I should have complete faith and assurance that whatever happens, God is in control, He knows what He is doing, and His plan for me and my life is perfect.
Looking back in retrospect, I should have said that to myself at that moment, but I digress.
Why on earth did I allow the devil to creep in and cause me to fear? Because my mind was not fixed on Jesus.
Isaiah 26:3 states that “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
I should have been praying.
I should have been praising.
I should have been talking to God.
That is how our minds are “stayed” on Jesus.
We take our worries, concerns, troubles and fears to God in prayer.
We praise Him for who He is and what He has done in our lives.
We praise Him for His blessings, His provisions and His protection.
And then we talk with Him as we go through whatever it is that we are facing.
Completely focused on Jesus and oblivious to the fear that Satan sets at our door. It doesn’t mean that we will never be fearful or scared, but it does mean that in those moments, there will be a presence of peace because of the Prince of Peace.
That is an absolute fact that we can all “rest” in.
Dawn Hayes is mother of four, grandmother to three and she and her husband pastor at New Hope Assembly of God in Senatobia. She has been writing “Sips from the Well” since 2015.
