As a minister, one of my duties is to visit the sick and as request is made to anoint as instructed in James 5:14. Last week, I went to Texas Medical Center in order to visit with a lady from the Houston congregation who had undergone surgery.
In going to the Medical Center, I was amazed at how much it had expanded since I moved to Houston in 2011.
Here are a few facts about the Medical Center: The Texas Medical Center (TMC) is a 2.1-square-mile medical district and neighborhood in south-central Houston. Over sixty medical institutions, largely concentrated in a triangular area between Brays Bayou, Rice University, and Hermann Park, are members of the Texas Medical Center Corporation—a non-profit umbrella organization—which constitutes the largest medical complex in the world. The TMC has an extremely high density of clinical facilities for patient care, basic science, and translational research. Finally, the Texas Medical Center employs over 106,000 people, hosts 10 million patient encounters annually, and has a gross domestic product of US$25 billion.
It is a truly amazing facility. A number of members have sought treatment there and have received excellent medical care.
From the first time I visited the medical complex, I have been overwhelmed by the concentration of buildings and the bustling nature of the services offered there.
My most significant conclusion about my visit to the Medical Center last week is that the facility is full of people with a whole variety of ailments.
Why so many sick and injured people? I think it is reflective of the fact that we live in a world that is sick on many levels and sadly that is not going to change much until we turn back to God and live by His word.
God’s blessing on a people who live by His word is spelled out in Exodus 15:26 “If you diligently heed the voice of the LORD your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the LORD who heals you.”
While medical science can address our ailments and offer some relief and healing, they do not through medical procedures address the core issue which is moral.
If our society would “do what is right in His (God’s) sight” and “give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes”, then we will not be plagued by the sicknesses and diseases all too common in the 21st century.
God promises us that there is a world that is coming that will be healthy and massive medical center will no longer be necessary.
As we keep the Sabbath, we can rejoice that there is a rest to come.
Gary Smith
Showing posts with label Healing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Healing. Show all posts
Friday, June 1, 2018
Friday, July 17, 2015
God Is Always There
My subject for this week’s Sabbath Thought comes from an event that occurred on Sunday, July 12.
On that date a group of church members met at Haak Winery in Santa Fe, Texas for a winery tour and tasting. It was a most pleasant opportunity to get together with brethren in a social situation.
As the occasion came to a close we headed back home on Highway 6. About the time we arrived in Alvin, Texas my phone rang. On the line was a woman who was frantic. We had difficulty hearing the caller but eventually deduced that the lady had just arrived back in Houston from the Middle East and was requesting anointing for her son.
We also learned that her son had been in prison for eight months and just been released fairly recently. Upon his release he went back to taking drugs and had taken drugs and gotten behind the wheel of his car. Not being used to the amount of drugs taken, he suffered cardiac arrest and had an accident.
When rescuers arrived at the scene, they did not think that the driver of the vehicle had survived. But they got him out of the vehicle and transported him to the hospital. There he remained unresponsive for three days before his mother arrived.
The mother of this young man was not a member of the United Church of God, but a part of the many “Churches of God” that characterize this age of the Church. She also understood anointing and that God is capable of intervention to heal. She was applying God’s instruction in James 5:14-15, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
We arrived at the hospital and met the mother and father. The mom was especially emotional because the prospects for her son’s recovery were not good.
I anointed the young man asking God to intervene in the situation and as I did so I could see his eyes open a bit. It seemed he was looking at me, but there was no recognition.
After speaking with the mother for a short time, we went home assuring the mother that we would be praying for her son’s healing. As we looked at the seriousness of the situation, we realized that without God’s direct intervention there was little hope. That realization is very hard for a parent to accept.
Interestingly, on Monday, we received a call from the mother in regard to this young man. She told us that the boy had awakened and had become responsive. The doctor was surprised by the outcome, but the nurse and the mother knew why the young man had taken a turn for the better. They knew that God in His mercy had intervened in this tragedy in order to give the youth another chance at life.
Why did God choose to intervene in this particular situation? We know, “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). We know God is gracious and He is merciful to all in many ways. It is not always clear why God chooses to intervene in one situation over another.
But we can be assured that when we go to God with our ailment through being anointed by an elder that God hears our prayer and considers our situation. He will then act in the way that is best for us as it relates to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
We can take comfort in the fact that God is always there for us.
Happy Sabbath,
Gary Smith
On that date a group of church members met at Haak Winery in Santa Fe, Texas for a winery tour and tasting. It was a most pleasant opportunity to get together with brethren in a social situation.
As the occasion came to a close we headed back home on Highway 6. About the time we arrived in Alvin, Texas my phone rang. On the line was a woman who was frantic. We had difficulty hearing the caller but eventually deduced that the lady had just arrived back in Houston from the Middle East and was requesting anointing for her son.
We also learned that her son had been in prison for eight months and just been released fairly recently. Upon his release he went back to taking drugs and had taken drugs and gotten behind the wheel of his car. Not being used to the amount of drugs taken, he suffered cardiac arrest and had an accident.
When rescuers arrived at the scene, they did not think that the driver of the vehicle had survived. But they got him out of the vehicle and transported him to the hospital. There he remained unresponsive for three days before his mother arrived.
The mother of this young man was not a member of the United Church of God, but a part of the many “Churches of God” that characterize this age of the Church. She also understood anointing and that God is capable of intervention to heal. She was applying God’s instruction in James 5:14-15, “Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”
We arrived at the hospital and met the mother and father. The mom was especially emotional because the prospects for her son’s recovery were not good.
I anointed the young man asking God to intervene in the situation and as I did so I could see his eyes open a bit. It seemed he was looking at me, but there was no recognition.
After speaking with the mother for a short time, we went home assuring the mother that we would be praying for her son’s healing. As we looked at the seriousness of the situation, we realized that without God’s direct intervention there was little hope. That realization is very hard for a parent to accept.
Interestingly, on Monday, we received a call from the mother in regard to this young man. She told us that the boy had awakened and had become responsive. The doctor was surprised by the outcome, but the nurse and the mother knew why the young man had taken a turn for the better. They knew that God in His mercy had intervened in this tragedy in order to give the youth another chance at life.
Why did God choose to intervene in this particular situation? We know, “for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Matthew 5:45). We know God is gracious and He is merciful to all in many ways. It is not always clear why God chooses to intervene in one situation over another.
But we can be assured that when we go to God with our ailment through being anointed by an elder that God hears our prayer and considers our situation. He will then act in the way that is best for us as it relates to eternal life in the Kingdom of God.
We can take comfort in the fact that God is always there for us.
Happy Sabbath,
Gary Smith
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