It’s two days before Christmas, my son’s birthday, and I am sitting in the waiting room of Harris Methodist Southwest in Fort Worth, Texas. My wife, Shelly, just left me to go to the surgical wing for a total knee replacement surgery that she’s been needing and anticipating for a long time. If all goes well, she will eventually get both knees operated on, but that will take some time, probably several months.
In the meantime, I have to sit back and wait. Going to the hospital always makes me nervous, mainly because you have to put your whole life in someone else’s hands. That goes doubly, or triply, when it comes to surgery. I’ve been in for a few surgeries in my life, nothing major, but they have had to put me under. And each time there is always the fear that once you go under you might not come back out.
It’s not as bad as being in a foxhole, I imagine. There is a certain degree of gambling to it, I think. Even with the best surgeon, they can never 100% guarantee that everything will go according to plan. But that’s where faith comes in. And that’s where we all get nervous.
God doesn’t want us nervous, but he does want us to recognize that some things ARE out of our control. We get the best surgeon and anesthesiologist we can find, go to the best hospital, roll the odds as much in our favor as we can. But then there’s that percentage of doubt in there where we need to lean on something. Is our faith in our doctor? In science? Or is it in the One who has taken care of us up to this point? After all, we have more history to prove that God cares about us than we have that the surgeon will do a good job. Don’t we?
We might pray fervently, urgently, and even more than once. But God hears us the first time. And he’s probably smiling, wanting to tell us, “Calm down, I’ve got this all under control. Just trust me.”
Trust me. That’s what it all comes down to. That’s what he really wants from us.
Hard to do when your in a foxhole, or in a hospital waiting room. Unless you can look back at God’s track record and see that he’s always been faithful.
It’s going to be a long day, but in the end, I think we’ll be all right. I have faith that God’s in control.
The Great Adventure 
Glen, I know what she is going through, I hope that she is not afraid to take the pain pills, they really helped me get through it. I now have bendability of 130 & 135 degrees. It is going to hurt her but it is worth it in the long run.