Ever since I got my first RN job
at the hospital, I realized that nursing job is nothing to sneeze at, it is
tough! And if not for the fact that God miraculously gave me this job, I would
be tempted to quit it many times over. But since this job came form the very
hands of God, all I can do is to cling to His hands, and to press forward.
Today I was supposed to be
working. I dragged myself out of bed, whispering a prayer, still half asleep. Since
I started working, I started to cherish prayer so much more than I have ever before.
I prayed to God this morning, that He would give me the spirit of prayer, so
when obstacles come, first thing I’ll do, is consult with Him. Then, I Reached
for Christian Service, read a few paragraphs. It was not my usual “half-an-hour
or more” devotion time, but I was filled, blessed and had peace in my heart.
Got ready to work somehow, drove
to work, clocked in, walked to the table where one finds the assignments for
the day. I looked on the paper to see which patients I will have today, just to
find out that my name was not on there. “Hmm…” I thought for myself, “was I not
on a schedule?” I looked at my phone to verify what date is today, and remembered
that I glanced at the schedule just a few days ago, and yes I was on the
schedule to work for today. I checked my phone again, to see, if by chance I missed
a call from the hospital, asking me not to come in today. There was no missed
call. I walked to the nurses’ station and asked the night shift charge nurse
about it. Apparently my name was on one schedule, but by mistake didn’t get transferred
to the schedule that the charge nurses use. So, not knowing I was on for today,
she made assignments without me, and now, at the shift change, there was no way
to give me an assignment. I was listening to all this, and to my surprise… I
didn’t get upset about the situation! As I turned away to go back home, I found
myself smiling. “Father, thank you... Thank you, for preparing me for an early
morning, unexpected, little, insignificant battle. Thank you for not allowing
me to get upset, and giving me a smile instead”
You may be reading this and
thinking… “She is writing a blog about this? What is so special about it? I am
wasting my time reading it!”
Yes, my prayer
this morning was not for some great miracle, and no big great thing happened as
a result to my prayer. And yes, to my prayer for wisdom and compassion in working
with the patients today, God simply answered: “You will not have patients today”.
I didn’t get the answer I asked for. In fact, I got a definite “No” for an answer
to my prayer. I believe, only because I entrusted myself and my patients into
the hands of my Father this morning, I took His answer “No” with a smile. “Prayer
does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him” Steps to Christ, 93. Although,
often we brush off little things in expectations for God to work mighty things
in our lives, it is through little, seemingly insignificant incidents that we
build our faith. God is the God of every smallest detail, and lovingly,with
care, He hears our small requests.
Walking through the hospital,
back to the exit, I thought to myself, if I should talk to somebody about this incident.
Thankfully, I live a 5 minute drive away from work, but there are many nurses
that come from far off, and these kinds of mistakes in schedule may not be fun
to handle when they happen so somebody. As I was prayerfully thinking if I
should just brush this incident off and forget about it, or mention it to somebody,
I almost ran into the nurses manager! I have never seen her coming to work at 5:45
in the morning before! I approached her,
and politely, with a smile on my face told her, what has happened. She
understood, and promised she’d look into the situation and talk to her
assistant, who is in charge of the schedules.
Perhaps, God will show me, why He
needed me not to work today. Or, perhaps, He will not show it to me. But I can
trust Him, that He knows what He is doing, and it is all for the best.
