"Prayer... Brings Us Up to Him"

     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.