Dori and I high five each other. It was the start of yet another adventure—deep dives along the world class reefs in Roatan, Honduras. We start in the “Texas” area aptly named because, you know, everything is bigger and better in Texas, and are treated to eagle rays, sea turtles, moray eels, barracudas, nudibranchs and so much more. It’s a dream.
The second dive takes us through a series of swim throughs as we make our way through a maze of coral. I’m working on completing my Deep Diver Certification and the day is as textbook perfect as they come.
We surface, laughing and relishing in the goodness of the Lord and His majestic creation. It was like He produced a live action movie of beauty just for me. I grab the dive ladder, start handing up some gear when a wave suddenly sends the boat rocking and I feel a searing pain. (I may or may not scream a non-God honoring word.) I turn to my dive partner and calmly state, “I think my finger may be broken.”
They triage on the boat and then escort me—in my still dripping wetsuit—to a surgical clinic. I chat on the boat, assuring everyone all is going to be well and keep a smile on my face. “Is she in shock” someone asks. “No,” I answer, “I just know that the Lord is holding my hand right now and it will all be ok.”
Open my eyes that I may see the wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18
Let me understand the teaching of your precepts, then I will meditate on your wonders. Psalm 119:27
You may have noticed a theme in my blogs over the last several years. Overcoming Fear. Deepening Trust. Walking in Faith. I asked the Lord to grow my faith in these areas and I never could have imagined the adventures the two of us would begin to have together.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. John 15:7
I choose not to look at my hand and instead embrace the formula I have been following for overcoming fear in all the little things–pray in the Spirit, practice gratitude and focus your mind on serving others.
Friends, I had a surgical procedure (ok, just ten stitches) in Honduras where the only person who spoke English was the receptionist. I had NO idea what they were shooting in my arms. All the pills they sent me home with, not a clue what they were or when to take them. I didn’t even have a credit card with me so I had no idea if I had enough cash on me to pay. Cris was on the other side of the island and we had agreed to not turn our cell phones on so there was no way I could let him know I might miss the all aboard time and remain in Roatan. If I allowed fear to run rampant, you could only guess at some of the scenarios I could have created in my head.
Here, instead, is what the Lord did. I arrived at the clinic right before the the new doctor arrived—the doctor whom every medical professional who has looked at my finger declared had MAD stitching skills. My friend Dori had her credit card. A speedy driver got us back to the port with time to spare. We happened to be traveling with an ER Doc who took over my care for the next five days, had the supplies I needed and decoded all the pills. I got home and had major favor in immediately getting into a hand specialist. Oh, and because I was still in the water when the accident occurred, my Dive Insurance has made everything easy peasy.
We serve such an amazing God.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. James 4:8
Have you asked the Lord to grow you in a particular area? Is there something that is keeping you from fully drawing near the Lord? Do you really believe that nothing is outside of His power?
The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. Rom 8:11
Meditate on that for a moment, my friend. The God, who does the impossible LIVES in you. Nothing is out of His realm of control. Nothing.
What will you ask him to do?
Now, for Part 2. As we drove away from the cruise ship, I caught my breath. I NEVER take off my wedding ring, but for some reason, I took it off right before my dive—because God who is so good—knew my hand would shortly swell up to mimic a baseball glove. So, at the dive shop, I put it in a ziplock bag and then later moved it into the safe on the ship.
Working through packing one handed and while on significant pain killers, it appears I forgot about the ring—until it was “too late.” I took a deep breath and told Cris I may have lost my wedding ring. Our friends commented, “How can you be so calm? We would be losing it right about now.”
I know the character of my God. He would make everything right. Somehow. I’ve stopped scripting things out for Him as to how.
I post on the Harmony of the Seas FB group asking if anyone has an actual phone number for the ship. We are close enough that we could go back. (Spoiler alert. You can’t get back on.) HOWEVER, random FB dude—his profile is an avatar and his cover image is a cruise ship—is doing a back to back (2 cruises in a row) and offers to go to my stateroom and see what he can do. My husband may or may not have told me I was crazy for trusting a stranger with our safe code.
The stateroom attendant had missed it. Random dude looked and didn’t find it either, but felt he needed to try again. He ran his finger along the edge of the safe and found my ring had fallen in a crevice. What was lost is now found. As he sent me a picture of the ring, I could only say “thank you” to God who is on a mission to show me just how much I can trust Him.
Lesson of the day—if you ask the Lord for growth in an area, buckle in friend. It will be a wild ride.
So, what about you? What are you going to ask Him for?
