Exactly What He's Doing

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on our own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

If someone had told me nineteen years ago that I’d still be a paramedic today, and a teacher, I would have said, "No way. I have bigger plans for my life." But thank God, He knew better…

Tricia was an outstanding student. So dedicated. So sincere. Seventeen years old with the warm, bubbly personality of a high school cheerleader and some of the best study habits I had ever seen, but try as I may, I just couldn’t imagine her elbows deep in a bloody EMS call. She looked too fragile. She’d never make it on the street. So I could hardly believe what I was about to hear.

"Mr. Patterson, you’ll never believe it!"

"What?"

"You remember how you taught us to do the Heimlich maneuver? On a conscious person with an obstructed airway?"

"Yeah?"

"Well it works," she exclaimed. "I saved a man’s life!"

"You what?"

"I’m serious! We were at Taco Bell eating lunch? And this man? He stood up at the next table grabbing his throat? And it was, like, so obvious he was choking, you know? So I asked him, ‘Can you cough? Can you talk?’ He shook his head. ‘I know the Heimlich Maneuver,’ I said. ‘Turn around!’ He did. And then I just did what you taught us—I wrapped my arms around him and gave him five abdominal thrusts. And guess what, this big wad of food came shooting out of his mouth! Can you believe it? I mean, I really did it! I saved somebody’s life!"

*

Yes, I had a plan for my life, but God knew better. And He used little Tricia to prove it. He led me down a different path than the one I would have chosen, and while we were walking He used me in ways I never could have imagined—to teach people, to mentor them, and amazingly, even to help them save a few lives.

Do you have big plans? Well before you spend another day chasing your dreams, seek the Lord. Acknowledge Him and see where He leads you. And then one day if you realize that He used you to accomplish mighty deeds, don’t be surprised—He’s an awesome God! And He knows exactly what He’s doing.

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Wake Up, Lord. Save Me!

The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. Mt 8:25-27

"How long was she under?"

"Five minutes?" the teenager cried. "Maybe more, I don’t know!"

I scooped my patient out of the water and laid her on a dry portion of cement beside the pool. The pretty little pig-tailed girl with chubby cheeks and dimples looked to be about eight years old, and as cute as a button, but her lightly freckled face looked dull and colorless, her eyes as lifeless as a plastic baby doll’s.

"I only took my eye off of her for a minute," her sister exclaimed. "I’m so sorry! Is she going to be all right?"

"Quick," I said tearing open the plastic wrapper for an Ambu-bag. "Get the monitor." My partner grabbed the EKG monitor and removed the electrode cables. "Somebody start compressions." I placed the resuscitator unit over the patient’s mouth and gave the bag a squeeze. Her chest rose and fell. Water trickled from the corner of her mouth. One of the firefighters removed his helmet and knelt by my side. He placed his hands on her chest and started pushing against her breastbone with a verbal cadence of one, and two, and three…

"Folks," I heard my partner say, "please stand back. Give us room." He pulled the backing off of a sticky electrode pad and attached it to one of her legs. He repeated the process on each of her other limbs while the firefighter and I performed CPR. "Okay," he said turning on the unit. The EKG monitor beeped. A harsh, erratic, jumpy yellow line traced across the screen. "Let’s take a look." He placed a hand on the firefighter’s arm. "Hold compressions."

The firefighter stopped. I held my breath. The EKG line flattened out, hiccuped once, and then grew into a regular patern of uniform complexes. Oh, thank you, Jesus!

I gave our patient two more full ventilations and then watched in amazement as she opened her eyes and began to cough and choke. We rolled her onto her side, careful to protect her head and neck as the clear pool water drained from her mouth and nose. "Non-rebreather," I said reaching out and snapping my fingers. Someone placed a hissing oxygen mask into my hand. I placed it over her face and waited, speaking quietly to her and praying silently as I coaxed her back to life. "Come on," I said. "You can do it. Come on back to us, come back." And slowly but surely she did. She pinked up. Her eyes opened. And then as if waking from a nightmare and realizing it was all just a terrible dream she closed those innocent blues again and began to cry. I closed mine too, but I began to pray. "Thank you, Lord. Oh, thank you, Lord."

*

Lord, I’m struggling. I feel like I’m drowning down here. I can see the surface but I just can’t seem to get there. Help me! Give me your hand, Lord. Please save me!

Have you been there? Where the cares of this world make you feel like you’re about to drown? Well next time you find yourself in the midst of a raging tempest with the wind shrieking and waves crashing all around, remember you’re not alone. Jesus is right there with you.
"Save us," his Disciples cried. "We’re going to drown!"

And look what Jesus did. He woke from his sleep. He stood and boldly rebuked the storm. And the wind and waves subsided. And peace fell over the scene.

* * *

Finished But Not Over

But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. Jn 19:33-34

Why did he do it? He could have called down a legion of angels. Destroyed the entire Roman army and easily saved himself. So why didn’t he? What’s this all about anyway? Who was this man, Jesus?

"Cut them down!"

"But, sir, they’re still alive."

"Then get the mallet. Break their legs!"

The cross. It was such an evil game. And the Legionnaires played it well. They knew exactly where to place the nails to elicit maximum pain. The perfect angle to bend the legs. The cruel effects of traumatic shock.

The horrible wooden mallet swung. The convicted criminal’s lower leg bones cracked. He screamed in agony as his battered limbs gave way. His weight fell against his tightly bound wrists and the slow process of suffocation began. The second victim’s death was much the same. The mallet flew. He emitted a terrible scream. His bent legs collapsed beneath him, and his constricted chest could no longer breathe. Asphyxiation set in. But then they came to Jesus…

"This one’s already gone," the Legionnaire exclaimed.

"Make sure of it!"

"Sir, you saw what happened! When he took his last breath. The earth shook. Thunder rolled. The sky turned dark as night. You saw it! Surely this man was the Son of God!"

"Give that to me!" The chief guard grabbed a long sharp spear and thrust the tip into Christ’s bare chest. A mixture of blood and water flowed from his wounded side. But there was no movement. No crying. The spirit had already left his body. Jesus Christ was dead.

"He’s finished," the guard shouted. "Cut him down."

And that was it.

*

Why did he do it? Why? Because he loved us that much. Jesus could have saved himself but he chose to die, to offer himself as a living sacrifice for you and me. He suffered that horrible, painful death so that we might live forever. In the eyes of the world it was over. Jesus lost. But don’t be fooled. It may have been finished when Christ drew his final breath on the cross, but it was NOT over. His death was just the beginning. The best was yet to come! For this man, Jesus Christ? He was the Son of God, and he was about to reveal God’s ultimate plan.

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