Friends

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Ps 34:18


I prayed with Freddy Sharp today. That’s not his real name and I don’t pray with all my patients, but today God’s Spirit set it up.


I take care of serious medical issues for Freddy and they are under control at this time, but Freddy’s wife left him this week and his alcohol problem flared up and he had no home to which he could return.


“I was up all night praying,” he said. “And this morning I was walking past a half-way house I used long ago and someone I knew was in the yard and invited me to stay with him. Just like that, God gave me a place to stay. This is hard, Doc. I need for you to pray for me.”

“Would you like for me to pray with you right now, Freddy?”

After we prayed, Freddy wiped his eyes. “I know you’re my doctor, but I think of you as more than a doctor. I think of you as my friend.”

What a privilege to be friends with the brokenhearted.

As doctors we are provided that opportunity more than most. The question is, “Are we ready for it?” Do we know what it takes to let God “set it up”?

Certainly, it takes seeking. We are unlikely to find such opportunities without seeking them. Do we pray every day for God to let us be his touch for the broken?

It takes awareness. In the midst of a very busy day, do we repeatedly return to the Father so he can remind us that our work is his ministry, that each patient visit is his divine appointment?

It takes authenticity. Do our patients know the truth: that we are children of the King and ambassadors to their brokenness? Do they feel comfortable approaching us with spiritual issues?

It takes unscheduled time. No one reaches out to us spiritually in a time slot that fits our plan for the day.

It takes the Spirit of God. Nothing we can do on our own matters. Nothing we do with His Spirit can fail.

Dear Father,
My work is not my business. My work is your business. Let my life fit into your plan this day, so that the lost may be brought home to you, the broken made whole in you and you may be glorified.
Amen