// January 25th, 2007 // No Comments » // Lily Rush
[FROM LANA] Just a reminder to keep praising but keep praying, too. Lily is still doing wonderfully but as typical with babies that have been intubated, she is very congested. They discovered in her chest x-ray this morning that a small top portion of one of her lungs is collapsed which they assured us is very common. About 30-40% of babies who have been intubated experience this problem – so, of course, we knew the odds were good for Lily since she seems to win the “odds games” often. She is receiving respiratory treatments for the next 24 hours for sure and longer if needed. So you can pray specifically for clear lungs, no congestion and very little discomfort. We want this baby to breathe well!
[FROM RYAN] I sent Lana to the Ronald McDonald House room last night to get some much-needed rest and stood watch solo in Lily’s room. She couldn’t be picked up, and so my job was pretty much limited to comforting her and putting her pacifier back in her mouth.
It was the first time I had really been able to exhale and spend some time on extended prayers of gratitude. I was reading back through some of my own notes, and it’s always interesting to see what meant the most after the storm was over. Psalm 20 has been really important to me this week. It’s actually a prayer of David’s warriors for their king’s safety and victory, but the promises and prayers fit quite nicely with my own cries this week.
In verse one, the psalm says, “May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.” During the surgery, as I kept reading this passage, I found this particular description of God to be really intriguing. It is making it clear that God’s protection was something to be sought after. But God was described here as the God of Jacob. Why Jacob? Well, the preacher in me would say it’s because Jacob represents all of Israel, God’s chosen nation, and all of his descendants. But the scared dad in me was reminded of Genesis 32, in which Jacob wrestled with God as he boldly asked for a blessing. Did God answer? Yes, but not without trial. Jacob limped away with a blessing, and a very sore hip. That’s the irony of God I’ll never understand, but can really appreciate after the storm. God’s richest blessings come only through pain. To be honest, I’m just overconfident enough that trials are the rare times I tend to desperately cry out to God. The worst and most arrogant part of human nature is that we think we are actually doing it on our own when things are going okay.
While I was studying last night, Dr Gertz, one of the pediatric cardiologists, came in and woke up a finally-sleeping-and-completely-peaceful baby with the words, “I’m so sorry, Lily, but I’m going to have to agitate you now.” And she proceeded to poke and prod and push to diagnose and treat and make a little progress. Of course, Lily began to scream and groan in her weak little drug-induced way that she has right now, and kept looking at me as if to say, “Why don’t you DO something???” She had tubes hanging everywhere at the time, and they had both of her little IV-laden arms tied to the bedrails to keep her from pulling on the life-giving lines.
I wanted badly to be able to tell her that her dad was only allowing all the pain and discomfort so that she could get stronger – that one day she could leave this place and do greater things than before. I was actually protecting her by making her vulnerable. That’s a father’s job.
And then, at 3AM, I thanked God in a whole new way for our last four months. For the first time, I really thanked Him even for allowing this to happen.
I spent the next hour searching my computer library (pastors have software with thousands of books in digital form that are easily searched – it’s one of our trade secrets) for writings on trials. I copied and pasted some of my favorites:
“When God permits His children to go through the furnace, He keeps His eye on the clock and His hand on the thermostat. His loving heart knows how much and how long.” —Warren Wiersbe
“Those who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but those who “do business in great waters” ’ these see His “wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man.” —Charles Spurgeon
“There is a strange idea going around in churches today. Some Christians have the odd impression that being a believer will exempt them from all problems. Somehow they feel that, upon conversion, they’re issued the spiritual equivalent of ID cards that say, ‘This absolves the holder from any kind of pain or trouble while living on this planet.’” – David Jeremiah
“There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has come past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose.” —Alan Redpath
“Thou hast granted me many blessings; Now let me accept tribulation from Thy hand. Thou wilt not lay on me more than I can bear. Thou makest all things work together for good for Thy children.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
“Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks
Sermons in stone, and good in everything.”
—William Shakespeare
“From this side of glory we see the tapestry from underneath, and it is full of knots and twisted threads and frayed ends that lack meaning and beauty. From God’s perspective, it is all under control.” — Charles Swindoll
Lana just walked back in and said, “You can’t preach on Sunday, so you’re going to preach to them now, huh?” Maybe so. Forgive me. I just wanted to let the record show that we’re not just thankful for God making her well. We’re also thankful for God teaching us when she hasn’t been well, and we’re going to trust Him whether the future holds good things or more challenges. He’s good either way.
There have been over 5,000 visits to Lily’s page. I can’t help but imagine that there might be some who are reading these updates who have only seen God at work from afar – and who have never trusted Him personally. The greatest blessing of my life is knowing Christ, and the greatest gift I could offer you is the promise that you can know Him too.
Romans 10:9 gives us the promise, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
God loves you very much – He doesn’t just love the Rush family – and I pray that you can have that same fellowship today. That would be the greatest outcome of this whole trial.
Okay – now I’ll stop rambling. God is good, but He’s not just good because things went well. He’s been good all along.
