A while back I was hanging out with Tammy in an OR prep room at the hospital, waiting for her to be called up for the surgery she needed to resolve a problem she'd had for years. The perky nurse who prepped her when we first arrived told us that she would be next up in the OR. So we settled in and waited for the call.
Four hours later, it occurred to me that Tammy wasn't gonna be "next." She was gonna be "last." I woke up from a nap with a startling realization that all I heard was silence. No muffled voices. No beeping machines. Nothing. I went out onto the OR prep ward and discovered that everybody -- everybody -- was gone. No patients. No staff. No one. It was eerie. I expected any moment to hear that spooky music from "The Twilight Zone."
Have you ever had one of those moments when you thought the Rapture had occurred, and you got left behind? Well, that wasn't one of those moments. The overwhelming thought that I had was that the OR staff had all wandered off and forgotten about Tammy. And that days later they would find our skeletal remains still waiting patiently for the call that never came.
You see, that's me. Mister "Worst Case Scenario." Whenever I am faced with an inconvenience or aggravation in my life, my mind will almost always conjure up the "worst thing that can happen" as the next event. I've been that way all my life.
Now, do you want to know how many times the "worst case scenario" has actually happened?
Never.
Not. One. Time.
It's like this: God takes care of me. All. The. Time.
He takes care of me, even when bad things happen. He takes care of me, even if the bad things that happen are of my own making. He takes care of me, even when my mind conjures up terrible things that never happen.
He'll take care of you too. If you'll let Him.
"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus." – Philippians 4:6-7 (TLB)
-- Doug Chastain is a retired teacher and is currently a large-vehicle transportation specialist for the Siloam Springs School District. (Okay, he drives a bus.) He is also a grass maintenance technician at Camp Siloam. (Yeah, he mows the lawn.) You can contact him at [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.