If Luck Is All You Have...

A few weeks ago I wasn’t feeling too well.  And what do we do these days when we are sick? That’s right! We input our symptoms on WebMD! Then promptly receive the diagnosis that we’re dying, lol! I’m kidding. Usually it will tell you to seek the opinion of a doctor.  So after going back and forth about what I should do, I finally made the decision to go to the ER. 

Now this is not the exact recounting of my illness (Lyme’s Disease) and how awful I felt.  Because I felt pretty rough.  This is the story about something that struck me as fascinating during my hospital stay.  It’s about what people kept offering me… Luck.  Or shall I say, the bestowing of “good luck” sentiments upon me by just about every person I met while in the hospital.

I need to preface my story with this tidbit…  A few days before I started to not feel well, the Lord guided me to a verse during my quiet time that I held onto as that week progressed. At the time, I really didn’t know why God led me to this verse but I believed there was a specific reason for it. He gave me Jeremiah 30:17a (NKJV):

“For I will restore health to you

And heal you of your wounds,’ says the Lord.”

As the next few days unfolded, I held on to that verse dearly.  I had written it down on a simple notecard, keeping it in plain view all the time.  I recalled it as I lay in bed aching.  I thought of it as I began a collection of black and blue marks on my arms from the IV’s and blood draws. It reassured me as the hours, then days went by.

As I spent time in the hospital, the doctors were having a difficult time figuring out just what exactly was wrong with me.  Despite all the unknowns though, I was comforted and steadied by the love and fervent prayers of my family and dear friends.  I knew that whatever the doctors diagnosed me with, that God was with me.  I was confident that He would heal me just as He said in the verse He given me a few days earlier.

But there was something that really stuck out to me while I was in the hospital.  It seemed like every person I came in to contact with be it a nurse, a doctor, the food service worker delivering my meal – they all would wish me good luck as they left me.  In fact, I was bid “Good luck!” so much, I was starting to wonder if I had somehow in my feverish state, wandered into a casino instead of a hospital!

If a tech would finish drawing my blood, he’d depart and say, “Well, good luck to you.  Hope you feel better!” Or as my nurse would finish her shift and leave, she would walk out of my room saying, “Good luck!  I hope you get well soon!”

Now, I know in our society, it can be frowned upon to share your faith in the work place.  I mean, I certainly wasn’t expecting any of the hospital staff to offer to pray for me or mention God really at all.  (Which can I just pause and let the heaviness of that statement kick in. I don’t know about you but that kinda makes my heart a bit sad.) But the mention of luck happened so often, I began to wonder, if I wasn’t a Christian, and so called “luck” was all I had, how in the world would I make it?

I mean, there I was, so sick it warranted a few days in the hospital.  I had full confidence God would heal me because He told me in His Word He would!  I had the love of the Father comforting me and strengthening me.  I knew that whatever the future would hold, no matter what my diagnosis would be, God held my future.  And that was enough for me.

But you guys, there are so many who don’t have that.  They are desperately holding on to luck.

My hospital room was semi-private and half way through my stay, I had a roommate.  We shared our stories with each other of how each of us ended up in the hospital.  She was as eager to leave the hospital as I was.  Her doctors would inform her that with luck, she’d get to go home the next day.  She was clinging to that.  She wanted to get out of there in the worst way.  From my bed across the room, I silently petitioned God to heal her and restore her.

When the next day arrived, I had a diagnosis and discharge papers.  I packed up and left our room, heading home.  While my roommate sadly, lay in her bed.  She was still hooked up to monitors and going home was not going to happen for her that day.   We said goodbye and she (of course) wished me “Good luck!”

Ladies, what do you think I said?? 

I looked her in the eyes and warmly told her, “I hope you get to go home soon!  I’ll be praying for you!”

Sweet friend, if luck is all you are holding on to today, may I suggest another way?  Because, when it all comes down to it, if luck is all you have – then really, you have nothing.  There is no such thing as luck but there is a Savior!  A Savior who is so much better than so-called luck.  Jesus - mightier than anything we face! He is with us, He is for us, and He will never leave us! He is our hope, our healer and with Him all things are possible!

Ladies, if you need prayer or if you have questions, the Bloom Ministry is always here for you, please email women@westridge.cc. We love you!

Post by: Marcy Gates