One of the questions we were asked that tuesday a week ago, was if we had some sort of support group because of the things we see and have to go through at the hospital, Robert Reid. While I immediately thought well no our support group is God, He sustains us and helps us bear the burden, I kept thinking about it a lot and the thought of a support group began to sound appealing. More so in my case because I've been seeing people whom I've come to cherish die in front of me since I started going to the hospitals, but I realized that always always the Lord has been my strength. Then today I read one of my favorite passages from Isaiah and realized what better therapy or cure than God's amazing Word He has left us, and His Holy Spirit who dwells in us to help us bear such burdens.
"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31
Amen! What an amazing God the Lord is!
And when we think about this in light of the Gospel it is even more amazing, how blessed we are and how we are blessed daily by the Lord being so undeserving of such Grace!
Thank you Lord Jesus!
10 comments:
Amen. The Lord is so glorious and full of grace. Keep these great posts coming. God bless you.
I sort of know what you are talking about in the hospital, I've visited a lot of people who were dying, but never watched any of them pass on. They used to love it when my friend and I came to pray for them.
Yes He is! we are so blessed to have such a great God Penn!
"I've visited a lot of people who were dying"
That is good to hear, was it a ministry you were part of or any particular reason why you went?
I do hope you never get see anyone pass on, I think the 2 worst things that I have ever been through was: 1. Watching a child die
2. Know of a child I had prayed for the day before die AND find out that the mother had some sort of witchcraft/voodoo stuff underneath the bed.
And next semester I'll be going back to that hospital for two whole months! Lord have mercy!
Thanks for your comments, always appreciated!
God bless you!!
It was a personal ministry with a friend who used to get baked goods from the bakery and give them away to people, then witness to them. We were visiting a homeless man he knew, who had been stabbed and was paralyzed. As far as I know, the man is still an unbeliever, but that led us to ask other people on that floor if they wanted us to pray for them. We would go to each room and pray for the people, then read from the Bible. There were all types of people there. One young man was completely paralyzed and couldn't speak. He had been beaten by the cops when he was 16, his dad told us. We would go and pray for him then say a few words and read some Scripture to him. There were a lot of other people there, some passed away and we didn't see them when we came back. Some were more coherent and some were not. The nurses on that floor didn't mind us doing that, we would witness to the guards also. It was a small nursing home.
It was a personal ministry with a friend who used to get baked goods from the bakery and give them away to people, then witness to them.
That sounds almost exactly like what I do in my ministry, that is so great!
We were visiting a homeless man he knew, who had been stabbed and was paralyzed. As far as I know, the man is still an unbeliever,
awww thats sad to hear, i'll put him on my prayer list, maybe one day he will repent, at least you know the seed was planted.
"The nurses on that floor didn't mind us doing that, we would witness to the guards also."
this is actually kind of surprising for me, I didn't think there'd be that much liberty in the US to do things like that, since people get offended pretty easily over there by Christianity. But I'm glad to hear it!(well read it in this case) I plan on finishing my studies over in the US and was wondering if i would have any chance of doing that same thing.
So was that a personal ministry you had back in Pittsburgh?
It was a personal ministry with a friend who used to get baked goods from the bakery and give them away to people, then witness to them.
That sounds almost exactly like what I do in my ministry, that is so great!
That is really cool. I was sort of dragged (literally) into helping to do this (against my will - but my will began to be changed). I was a part of an ICOC church in Pittsburgh at the time. My older friend we used to call "the crazy grace man" was trying to convince me they were cult like and he would witness to me and all my friends. It was a very dramatic, fast-paced time of my life.
We were visiting a homeless man he knew, who had been stabbed and was paralyzed. As far as I know, the man is still an unbeliever,
awww thats sad to hear, i'll put him on my prayer list, maybe one day he will repent, at least you know the seed was planted.
His name is Tony. We would pray for him, and he gradually began to be able to walk again. I'm not sure what he is doing now, he may be in a wheelchair, but his excuse was that he enjoyed sin. Thanks for offering to pray for him. Pray for the 'Grace Laborers' also in Pittsburgh and for the homeless people they witness to. God bless you in that.
"The nurses on that floor didn't mind us doing that, we would witness to the guards also."
this is actually kind of surprising for me, I didn't think there'd be that much liberty in the US to do things like that, since people get offended pretty easily over there by Christianity. But I'm glad to hear it!(well read it in this case) I plan on finishing my studies over in the US and was wondering if i would have any chance of doing that same thing.
So was that a personal ministry you had back in Pittsburgh?
They did get really offended at us when we went to a different floor. It may have been bc Mark "grace" was so crazily zealous and people expected that from him, and it may have been because on that floor, we were witnessing to Tony the homeless man. God provided a way somehow. That was a ministry between Mark "grace" and myself in the heart of the Jewish community of Pittsburgh. The Jews wouldn't open up to us, but occasionally Mark will preach to a few of them standing outside the supermarket or wherever.
Are you close to being finished with your studies? Do you have an idea of where in the US you would like to go? I'll pray your ministry to people in hospitals will be blessed.
the nurses who got offended were different people on a different floor, not the same ones. The security guards were mostly professing Christians so Mark would give them Spurgeon sermons and highlight them to try to get them to read 'em. We were pretty crazy, sort of like fools for Christ. God gave us a lot of grace :)
(against my will - but my will began to be changed) wow praise God! :D
I was a part of an ICOC church in Pittsburgh at the time.
What's an ICOC church??
but his excuse was that he enjoyed sin.
and a biblical excuse it is, to me thats one of the most heart wrenching things about evangelism, when people reject the gospel...it has happened with my dad 3 times already, the last time he just walked away :(
"Are you close to being finished with your studies? Do you have an idea of where in the US you would like to go? I'll pray your ministry to people in hospitals will be blessed."
God willing I graduate next year in July, I'd like to go to Chicago but its not up to me to decide, after I graduate I have to take a test called USMLE all med students have to take it before they begin a Residency Program in a hospital, after the exam i have to apply to a residency program of my interest in different states all over the US and then it will all depend on which hospital will accept me.
But I really don't mind, wherever the Lord sends me I will go.
"We were pretty crazy, sort of like fools for Christ. God gave us a lot of grace :)"
Amen! well keep on being a fool for Christ wherever you are! :D
I'm sorry, the guy's name is Tim, and he is still an unbeliever. However, there have been a few guys who have been recently saved in Pittsburgh. Some of them are going to be baptized here in Philadelphia next week if the Lord wills. So grace is being extended to us by God.
"However, there have been a few guys who have been recently saved in Pittsburgh." that is so great!! I'm glad to hear it! God is so good!
as for Tim do you know if they continue to witness to him?
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