Reality: The Quality or State of Being Actual or True

With monsoon season upon us, it's never a good thing to have your air conditioner blowing out hot air! I got a little bit scared when John called from work and said the air conditioner is not working and Wright Plumbing and Heating was on their way to the house. All I saw were dollar signs leaving my pocket as I looked around at my half painted living room and a multitude of other unfinished projects around our new house that need to be finished. As everyone knows, home projects aren't cheap and so far I'm certain I have paid for the new addition at our local Home Depot!

My heart was a bit uneasy as Mr. Wright went outside to look at the AC unit and said, "This is a huge undertaking if it is what I think it is." I had all I could do not to ask him, "What do you think it is?" or worse yet, "How much do you think it will cost?" I bit my tongue not to ask because I knew in my heart as soon as he says what he thinks it is, my human mind will latch on to that and mull it over in my mind and before you know it, I would be writing a check to the company for $1000 to fix my air conditioner. I stopped myself before the words came out. I stepped back in my hot house and decided to consult with my "real" air conditioner guy...My Lord who has everything in His hands and has the ability to change what appeared to be my reality...a very expensive air conditioning job.

I grabbed my son, Chad, and took him upstairs to a quiet room. I opened up the Word and showed him where it says, 2Chron 20:14-23 It read, Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zecharia, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. And he said, "listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehosphaphat! Thus says the Lord to you; Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God's. Tomorrow go down against them. They will surely come up by the Ascent of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the brook before the Wilderness of Jeruel. You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you, O Judah and Jerusalem! Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you."

And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem bowed before the Lord, worshipping the Lord. Then the Levites of the children of the Kohathites and of the children of Korahites stood up to praise the Lord God of Israel with voices loud and high.

So they rose early in the morning and went out into the Wilderness of Tekoa; and as they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, "Hear me, O Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem: "Believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper." And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beautify of his holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying

"Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever."

Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated. For the people of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir to utterly kill and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they helped to destroy one another.

So when Judah came to a place overlooking the wilderness, they looked toward the multitude, and there were their dead bodies, fall on the earth. No one had escaped.

After I read it, I emphasized where they praised God and when they praised Him, He set up ambushes against their enemies and God delivered them into their hands. Not only that, but they spent the next several days taking all of their goods. I closed my black bible and asked Chad to sing praises onto the Lord with me.

I turned on itunes to "Sing Hallelujah" and we sang (which wasn't pretty by the way) and we raised our hands to the Lord. Soon, I looked around and my 3 year old and 4 year old daughters were also in the room singing with hands raised to the Lord. After we finished singing, I said just one simple prayer. "Lord, let this praise be a sweet sound to your ears. I lay this situation in your hands and refuse a bad report. I know you can do anything and I trust you with my air conditioner."

As I left the room, I had this peace in my heart that the Lord was taking care of it. Soon, Mr. Wright came back into the house holding a blown fuse in his hand. He said, "You have a bad fuse and that should take care of it."

I wanted to jump up and down I was so happy. I walked him out to the truck and asked, "Just out of curiosity, if the air conditioner had the problem that you thought it was, how much would it have been?" My mouth dropped open as he said the words, "A minimum of $2000, but I would have recommended that you get a whole new air conditioner" I smiled to myself. Instead of a new air conditioner, I paid $187!

I thank God He is not subject to MY reality or bound by what I see...He is reality. He is the truth and the creator of reality. With His very Word, He caused the earth to be created and with His Words today, He still makes thing new.

As hard as it is, let us train ourselves to not look at any situation as our reality. Like the old saying goes, "What you see is what you get." This is NOT true. I have learned just the opposite that what I see is not reality...unless I believe what I see and accept it! Then I get what I see. Friends, we don't ever have to be satisfied with how bleak things might look. We just look to Him and count on Him to change our reality.

Let us not look at our situations or our problems. We can accept things the way they look or we can believe for God to change our reality by His mighty Word. He is not subject to our reality...He is reality.

Colossians 1:5-6 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you

She Starves at 650 Pounds

Isaiah 11:3-4 He will not judge by what He sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness, he will judge the needy.

It was a busy Monday morning as I rushed into the hospital, punched in, grabbed a coffee, and sat down to get my assignment for the day. I enjoyed being a nurse on a busy Med/Surg floor. It made my job interesting and it gave me many opportunities to shine for Jesus. I listened intently to my report and knew it would be a busy day. I had five patients that day, but one of my assignments caught my eye. This was a middle-aged woman who came in through the ER the night before. She was in heart failure and the report said she weighed 650 pounds. I thought to myself, certainly she can't be that big. The night nurse said when she came in, she had been home for months not being able to bathe properly because of her weight and the smell was so bad that it filled the hallways. No one could even walk by her room without noticing how strong the smell was. As my mind wandered, I thought about a pastor’s testimony I had read once. He held a homeless man in his arms as he repented and gave His life to Jesus. He said the smell was so bad he could hardly bear it. "That's what my sin must have smelled like to Jesus," he wrote. This smell didn’t compare to how my sin smelled to my precious Jesus before He rescued me.

After report, I walked to her room first just to see if they might be exaggerating. I gasped quietly as I entered the room. I had never seen anyone so large. My heart went out to her. I started in with my day taking care of her like she was my only patient. I noticed when I introduced myself as her nurse she wouldn't look me in the eye when she talked to me. I could feel the thickness of the air as she was completely self conscious and embarrassed of her state. As soon as I saw her, I decided in my heart that I wanted to go out of my way to let her know that she didn't disgust me and her life mattered to me and not only that, Jesus loved her even in her condition. No matter how bad my day went, I would treat her with love and compassion. There were times when I would have a doctor on hold and three patients that hadn't gotten their medications yet, but when that bell rang to her room, I would go in and make sure I was smiling. When I talked with her, I made a point to make eye contact with her. Whenever I had a chance, I would touch her hand and smile at her and show compassion to her. I’ll never forget the first time I touched her hand, she looked shocked. It was almost as if she thought she was untouchable. No matter what, I showed love. Love conquers all through Jesus Christ and I knew it.

At the end of the first day, surprisingly she started to trust me. She quietly opened up to me and shared her sad heart. Sadly, she came in through the ER the night before and when she was coming out of the ambulance a doctor was holding the door open for her. He had given her a look of total disgust. At a time when you should feel safe and secure, she felt uncomfortable and embarrassed. Unfortunately, this same doctor that held the door open for her ended up seeing her in the ER. With sadness, she shared what an uncomfortable experience it was for her.

As I quietly listened, I was cut to the heart. I was helpless and inadequate to say anything to help her. The only thing I could think of to say was that Jesus loved her and that her life mattered to Him. No matter what she felt, her life was meaningful to Jesus and to me.

At the end of the shift, as I did my final rounds, I saved her room for last. On my way out the door, I let her know that I had been praying for her because I cared about her and God loved her no matter what. She smiled reluctantly and thanked me for praying for her.

A few days before meeting Nora, I was reading the Word of God. The Holy Spirit spoke to me so powerfully through Isaiah 11:3-4 He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness, he will judge the needy. I knew when I read it that the Lord was speaking to me, but I didn’t know the full extent of His Words until I saw this woman. When I left her room, I thought of this verse that was still preserved in my heart. I decided if Jesus does not judge with His eyes or His ears but righteously judges the needy, then that is exactly what I will do. I held this truth within myself whenever I had contact with her and applied it to my actions, my thoughts, and my behavior.

I came upon the second day of caring for Nora. This day, I noticed when I started talking with her she began to make eye contact with me when we spoke. This was one of those days when I just didn’t have a second to spare. It was such a busy day full of sick people needing every minute just to feel comfortable. But once again, I repeated the same thing over again. When I went into and out of her room, I was smiling. As far as I was concerned, when I was in her room, she was the only patient I had for that day.

As I checked her IV fluids and assessed her breathing, she told me about her life. I don’t know why she shared with me…maybe she just never had anyone who ever listened. But you see, Jesus had given me His ears and His eyes and I was available for her. My heart was heavy as she explained that as long as she could remember, she had been overweight. But things really kicked in high gear over the past six months where she had gained a lot of weight. Depression had taken over her mind and she was so sick of being overweight that she ate and ate until she gained a lot more weight. She explained that she started thinking, “Why am I here? What do I have to live for?”

My heart melted as the tears welled up in my eyes. You see, underneath those 650 pounds of flesh, I saw a woman who was just like me...a woman who couldn't live her life without Jesus. With the righteousness of Christ, I saw what Jesus saw. She was completely empty and in need. At 650 pounds, she was starving because she continued to touch her lips with the bread that never lasts and hadn’t tasted the Bread of Life that lasts forever. I held her hand as she captivated me with her words. What happened next was so amazing and nothing short of a miracle from my Savior. With her soft voice, she said, “Inside me, I have no peace.” For the first time since meeting Nora, I didn’t feel helpless or afraid. I absolutely knew I had the answer for her.

That afternoon, instead of taking my half hour lunch to eat, I took it to feed this woman the Bread that lasts. With Jesus, we will never hunger or thirst again. Right there on her hospital bed, she invited Christ into her life and became a new woman. The Lord restored her to Himself in such a beautiful way. Jesus said He will not judge by what He sees with his eyes, or decide what he hears with his ears, but with righteousness He judges the needy. (Isaiah 11:3-4) I thank the Savior of my life for giving me His eyes and His ears, and His righteousness. Without His Word, His eyes, His ears, and His Spirit alive in me, I would have seen this woman like the world saw her…an unworthy glutton. But I thank the Lord that through His eyes, I saw clearly.

**Names are changed to protect identity