Wednesday, May 29, 2002
I don't do hospitals. Well, I mean I visit people in hospitals - but I don't stay there myself. I've been blessed not to have to stay during my whole adult life actually. Until a few months ago. For a guy who has very few sick days, this one bout of the flu really knocked me out. My blood pressure dropped, I dropped - and I ended up in the emergency room, being treated for dehydration. I thought they'd give me some rehydration fluids and I'd be on my way. Instead, they decided to admit me because I could only hold intravenous fluids due to the flu. I was not a happy boy. Under my breath I was muttering, "Mur-mur-mur-mur-mur." Until my sister-in-law stopped by and reminded me of something I had told her once. (Don't you just hate it when people nail you with your own words?) She simply said, "Ron, remember who you are, and remember why you're here." Oh, yeah.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Always on Assignment."
Well, my wife and I ended up setting up a little Christian bookstore in my room. As nurses and aides came and went, I gave them books or booklets that present the love of Jesus Christ. We had some great spiritual conversations, as well. Just before I checked out, the pretty hard-core lady that had admitted me came by and said, "Ron, we know why you were here now. It was for all of us pagans here."
Well, if I hadn't seen it before, I sure should have seen it then. This ultimately wasn't about the flu or dehydrating or medical care. Those were simply God's tools to assign me to something He wanted me to do, to people whose lives He wanted to touch through me. And that's exactly why you are where you are . . . why you're experiencing what you're experiencing.
That becomes more clear when you read our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 16:5-6. David said, "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance." Now, whatever is going on in your life, you can, at any moment, in any situation, say what David did - "Lord, You have assigned me here." When I finally woke up to the fact that I was in that hospital by divine assignment, my grumbling turned to peace and much of my anxiety turned to expectancy.
Your mission is to first accept your assignment as being from your all-loving, all-knowing Lord - the God who always does what is best for you and for His glory. That perspective is a secret of lifelong contentment and stability. It's not at the mercy of your circumstances. So He may assign you to a stage or a back room, to a great job or the unemployment line, to being married or being single, to success or failure, or to health or sickness. But you can always trust His assignments.
And if your life is yielded to Jesus Christ, you can always trust that what you're living right now is His personal assignment for you. So accept His assignment and then faithfully carry it out, looking for all the opportunities in that situation to honor Him and introduce people there to Him.
Quit fighting your situation. Quit fussing about your situation. Quit getting frustrated about your situation, and start living this as your current assignment from the Throne Room of the God you belong to!