Thoughts on 1 Peter - Day 19

                                 1 Peter 4:8-10


⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

     Here I am in Honduras taking to heart my blog from yesterday.  My surgery went well and I felt the Lord with me. I think the patient will do well. The stress of the surgery drove me to my knees which to the Lord was more important than the outcome of the surgery. Last night I labored in prayer about today's surgery which I know I can't do and I believe God told me to call for help to decide whether to do it or not. I'll ask Jeff, the missionary surgeon for his opinion. If he says yes we do it.  If he says no we cancel . It's just that the lady has a huge cancerous mass on her bottom and I want to help her but I don't want the complications of the surgery to be worse than her cancer.

    What would Peter say? He says we all have different gifts.  Use your gifts together in a humble fashion.  I got to sleep last night because a nurse sat with my patient from yesterday. I could operate yesterday because a tech sterilized the equipment.  The patient didn't jump when I cut her because the wife of the missionary surgeon had watched visiting anesthesiologists and now functions as the anaesthetist.  I was assisted by a family practice doctor who helped me tremendously. Between cases I hydrated and ate at the snack shop overseen by missionary Joe. I'm radioed by David when they need me. The CRNA fed me last night. A 20 year old girl, Sarah, translates for me working here during her summer college break.  In the church it is the same way. God has given us all unique gifts and abilities and if we don't use them, the body suffers. I have never appreciated my office nurse as much as this week. I can't find speculums, gloves, KY Jelly, wet prep material, qtips, anything.  It's all here but I don't know where to find it, nor how to ask. Back home it is there at my service. When people aren't doing what they are supposed to do, there is chaos, stress, and a malfunctioning hospital/church.

     So who is more important, me the doctor or the lab girl who picked me up when I came in? Who is more important,  the pastor or the nursery worker? The answer is neither. Peter says this is what love is;  this is where hospitality starts. This is how the whole world will know that we are truly His disciples and that Christianity is the real deal. This happens when we all consider others and more important than ourselves. This happens when we humble ourselves and serve others using our unique abilities.

    Lord, thank you for this experience to once again learn that I am not"the man". Thank you for spreading out your gifts through the body of Christ so we can function in a supernatural way. Amen