"I trust you."

Holly Franklin is currently serving as a radiologist on the good ship Mercy and this post is reblogged from "A Path to Mercy."  May we, too, trust HIM.

Oh the things the Lord has taught me this past week.

Through friends, through patients, through evil, through life.

This week began with a imaging study on one of our ward patients. He came to us with his back completely covered in one large nevus (mole). This nevus would have most likely turned into cancer in the coming months/years, therefore, he had it removed.

Sounds simple enough, right?

Sure, it was a simple operation, but this is what needs to be understood about this case. When I say his back was completely covered by one large mole, I literally mean his ENTIRE back. From his scapula to his lumbar, flank to flank.

Totally. Completely. Covered.

So when I say he had it removed, what I really mean is, he had 90% (plus or minus) of the flesh of his back removed in one operation. Down to the muscular layer of tissue. Gone. The only thing covering this enormous wound is a transparent, sterile bandage (think a enormous tegaderm…or the transparent bandage we use to secure an IV).

Yet when he came to radiology, even though he was in a great deal of pain, he was nothing but gracious, kind & thankful. He literally walked to the department. And when our day crew, Ifede, started to translate what we were going to do during his exam & letting him know that we were going to work as gently & quickly as we could, because we understand the amount of pain he is in, this patient gently responded with,

“You may do whatever you need to do, I can handle whatever it may be. I trust you.”

I TRUST YOU.

God literally knocked the breath out of me with that response.

What is it like to have such a trust in someone you’ve just met?

This patient hasn’t been with us too long & yet, he totally, completely trust us. Then I realized that all of our patients have this trust. They all come to us full of trust, full of kindness, full of gratitude, full of faith. All before they even have a chance to know us. They put all of their trust in God to care for them through us, His children.

The Bible tells us in Psalm 91 that if we rest in the shadow of the Almighty with trust, that He provide us refuge. That He will shield & protect us from fear.

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day.”                  -Psalm 91:1-16

So why do we struggle with trust? Why are we, as Christians, so hesitant to put all our trust in God?

Because surely, if our patients are able to put total & complete trust in Him, & in turn, in us…we can do the same, right?

Last week, my hometown experienced fear & evil first hand. Through a teenagers thoughtless actions, we lost some members of our community (Rest in peace at the feet of our Savior sweet Jacob!). There are lives that will be forever affected by this tragedy. And while we are still processing everything that has occurred last week, God knows the reasoning behind it all. It was all a part of His plan after all. We must remember that there are things in life that we will never truly understand. We’re not meant to. We’re meant to put our trust and faith in Him, His timing, His plan. For all of those things are perfect in Him. Although it’s hard to comprehend at times, everything happens for a reason. That reason may become clear fairly quickly after the tragedy, other times, it may take years. There will always be events that we never truly understand.

And again, that’s where faith and trust comes into play.

Just as our patients trust in our plan to treat them, we should trust God’s plan for our life. Because in Him, & Him alone, will the plans for our lives come alive. Just as our patients have had to endure years of rejection & pain, they still trust that God has a bigger & better plan for them…& we must do the same. We will have to endure rejection from this world & the pain that life brings, but we must continue to trust that everything we endure is part of His plan for us, part of our growing in Him as His children.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought & never fails to bear fruit.” -Jeremiah 17:7-8

To be truly blessed & to bless those around us, we must keep our faith & trust in Him.

For when we place ALL of our trust in Him & ALL of our worries & insecurities at His feet, we truly allow Him to work in & through us. Which is our purpose on this earth…to live for Him, to share His love, grace & mercy with those around us. To shine His light into the darkened world. To serve others in His name. To bring Him glory.

We are His & He is ours. 

Wow. What a thought.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, &  I am helped; my heart exults, & with my song I give thanks to him.” -Psalm 28:7