In a sermon this weekend, a friend confessed to the congregation that he'd not been himself for sometime. Several weeks ago, John noticed that he'd not had the energy that he'd always had and as the days went on, his condition worsened. He'd come home from his music teaching job and collapse on the couch for a nap, something he'd never been in the habit of doing before. His wife noticed his decline in health and thought perhaps the thyroid trouble that ran in his family was to blame. As a vegetarian, and a young man of 29 in good shape who loves Jesus, he began to fall into depression, thinking that perhaps it wasn't a thyroid problem at all, but something much worse. So, he turned to the Savior and prayed a heartfelt prayer, confessing that he knew Jesus knew what the problem was, and that if it was His will, He would reveal it to him - and if it was not His will, then he would accept whatever fate awaited him.
Last weekend, he awoke Sunday morning feeling surprisingly well with energy and vigor that he'd not known for some time. Being a man who is not one to sit still, he decided to make use of this good fortune by mowing the lawn (down here in the New Orleans area, the grass still grows like crazy this time of year). In the middle of the incessant noise of the mower and thinking about if perhaps some recent change had brought on his sudden decline in health, he suddenly had a thought:
"Check your aftershave".
He remembered that he'd begun using a different brand of aftershave that his wife brought home a few weeks earlier, but dismissed it as a random, unrelated thought. After finishing up and going back inside to cool off, the words came again:
"Check your aftershave."
Annoyed that the thought wouldn't leave him alone, he wondered how in the world could his new aftershave have anything to do with anything. As he continued on through his day, the words came again.
"Check you aftershave."
Finally, he went into the bathroom and pulled down the old, almost empty bottle and the new bottle he'd been using for the past few weeks, looked them over, then for some reason began comparing the ingredients. As he went down the list, one stood out on the label of his new aftershave that was curiously absent from the old: Glycol Propylene. "What the heck is that?" he wondered. A quick internet search revealed what it was: a chemical used as an active agent found in ANTIFREEZE.
Ten minutes later (and several alarming stories of people who had suffered from glycol propylene poisoning ranging from the symptoms he'd been experiencing to death), he knew that God had revealed the answer to him. During the visit to the doctor which soon followed, he impatiently listened to John's theory before immediately dismissing it as all but ridiculous and assured John that his family's medical history almost certainly pointed to the problem and ordered some thyroid tests.
All of them came back negative.
As John stood this weekend preaching a powerful message about the Great Physician and giving Jesus the glory for the ability to do what he confessed would have been impossble just a few short days before - stand and preach for almost an hour - we were all reminded that the Great Physician is always on duty, always makes housecalls, and we can trust His word to the point that we are never in need of a second opinion
Last weekend, he awoke Sunday morning feeling surprisingly well with energy and vigor that he'd not known for some time. Being a man who is not one to sit still, he decided to make use of this good fortune by mowing the lawn (down here in the New Orleans area, the grass still grows like crazy this time of year). In the middle of the incessant noise of the mower and thinking about if perhaps some recent change had brought on his sudden decline in health, he suddenly had a thought:
"Check your aftershave".
He remembered that he'd begun using a different brand of aftershave that his wife brought home a few weeks earlier, but dismissed it as a random, unrelated thought. After finishing up and going back inside to cool off, the words came again:
"Check your aftershave."
Annoyed that the thought wouldn't leave him alone, he wondered how in the world could his new aftershave have anything to do with anything. As he continued on through his day, the words came again.
"Check you aftershave."
Finally, he went into the bathroom and pulled down the old, almost empty bottle and the new bottle he'd been using for the past few weeks, looked them over, then for some reason began comparing the ingredients. As he went down the list, one stood out on the label of his new aftershave that was curiously absent from the old: Glycol Propylene. "What the heck is that?" he wondered. A quick internet search revealed what it was: a chemical used as an active agent found in ANTIFREEZE.
Ten minutes later (and several alarming stories of people who had suffered from glycol propylene poisoning ranging from the symptoms he'd been experiencing to death), he knew that God had revealed the answer to him. During the visit to the doctor which soon followed, he impatiently listened to John's theory before immediately dismissing it as all but ridiculous and assured John that his family's medical history almost certainly pointed to the problem and ordered some thyroid tests.
All of them came back negative.
As John stood this weekend preaching a powerful message about the Great Physician and giving Jesus the glory for the ability to do what he confessed would have been impossble just a few short days before - stand and preach for almost an hour - we were all reminded that the Great Physician is always on duty, always makes housecalls, and we can trust His word to the point that we are never in need of a second opinion