Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Dead or alive?

I went to the doctor recently for a check-up. It had been awhile—I’m not fond of doctors. My philosophy is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” And I come from healthy stock. My great-grandpa Bill had a stroke at age 92 and went to a nursing home for his last few weeks of life. The paramedics who arrived to transport him refused to believe my great-grandmother when she told them he wasn’t on any medication. Still every decade or so I figure it’s a good idea to get a professional opinion.

At the end of my appointment, I was sent down the hall to have blood drawn. The nurse tied her elastic tubing around my left arm and started tapping to find a vein. “Do you have tiny veins?” she asked. “Yep, and they’re buried deep—sorry,” I affirmed. She tried the other arm, before giving up and asking the other nurse to try. The second nurse approached with a look of impatience. She tapped….and tapped…and then said, “Uh-uh, this one’s dead! Why we got to take blood from dead people?”

Turns out I wasn’t dead and she found a vein in the other arm, but have you ever felt that way—dead spiritually or emotionally? I have. I’ve felt like the dry bones that Ezekiel prophesied over. “Son of man, can these dry bones live?” “Oh, sovereign Lord, only you know.”

What do you see in your life today that looks dead? Is it a ministry, a relationship, an opportunity, a hope? Does it look dire? Just remember, appearances can be deceiving. What looks dead may not be. It might just be mostly dead, like Wesley in The Princess Bride. Or it might be really, truly, dead as a doornail. That’s okay. You serve a God Who is in the business of raising the dead to life, don’t you?

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sometimes what we think of as "dead" is actually quite alive and growing. I remember one year putting out sod with my dad. This grass looked as dead as it could be. But he told me hat even though it looked dead, the roots were still alive and growing. A few weeks later it greened up nicely. The same thing happens with a tree. The leaves may not be out but the roots continue to grow. We need to be careful about pronouncing things dead. It may just be another form of growth.