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Sep 01, 2022 18:30pm

Refocus and Rediscover

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“One afternoon while I was volunteering, I was warned that room 21 would be very demanding. After responding to three calls in ten minutes, I asked if she would like some company. Her name was Ruth and she was paralyzed from the waist down from a fall. I held her hand and listened to her as she sobbingly told me her fears of losing independence and burdening her busy surgeon son. I reassured her that she could remain independent even if she couldn’t walk and her son would not consider caring for her a burden. As I was preparing to leave the room so she could rest, she said “Thank you. You treated me like a person, not a patient.” Although I had not cured her paralysis or lessened her pain, I did make Ruth feel loved and cared for that afternoon.”

This is an excerpt from an essay written by a student applying to medical school. In these essays, the students describes why they have chosen to be a doctor. Admissions Committee members will thoroughly read these statements and applications, searching for the best candidates to become our future healthcare providers.

What I love most is when a medical student or even a doctor goes back and reads that personal statement they wrote several years before. On their best days and even their worst, it’s a great reminder of why they chose this path. It allows them to refocus and discover once again the motivation that fueled their desire to serve as a physician.

Joshua and the Israelites have just taken the city of Ai, just as God told them to. They lured them out and had a large group waiting on the side to come in behind them after they fled the city. Ain was now only rubble and ashes. The curse lifted from them as they obeyed the Lord. In this moment of victory, Joshua led the people to celebrate in the right way.

“Then Joshua built an altar unto the LORD God of Israel in mount Ebal, As Moses the servant of the LORD commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the LORD, and sacrificed peace offerings. And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them.” (Joshua 8:30-35)

Joshua read the Word of the Lord, the law, to the people. This was the reason they were here. This was the reason they had victory over Ai. It was the presence of the Lord. Joshua knew that and instructed the people to listen as he read it aloud to the entire nation. It allowed them to refocus and discover once again the motivation that fueled their desire to serve the Lord.

We, too, need daily reminders of what the Lord has done for us, what He desires for us to do, and why we should serve Him. If you are not already opening your Bible daily and studying God’s word, I pray you will begin doing that today.

Too busy? Get up earlier or stay up late. Use your lunch break. He is our lifeline. He gives us nourishment to make it through our day.

Recently, I attended a virtual conference with our BMA Ladies. The speaker, Katy McCown, shared that even though social media, tv, newspapers, or a friend’s texts, can all be luring to grab first thing in the morning, she has committed to get into God’s word first. When we do that, the things of this world filter through His truth and promises. Not the other way around.

Make that commitment today. The Lord commands us to give of our first fruits. What if that even includes our time? I want to give The Lord His rightful place in my life. If I tell everyone He’s my #1 priority, is He really? Am I putting anything else before Him?

Any time spent with the Lord is never wasted. It allows us to refocus and discover once again the motivation that fuels our desire to serve our living God.