Doctor Before Disney

My dream trip, that I had been planning in my head since I was a little girl, was about to happen. 

Sharing Disneyworld with my kids and seeing them enjoy the magic was just days away. With three small kids, I was silently in awe at how well everything was coming together. It was going to be a surprise and I couldn’t wait.

It seemed to be smooth sailing, until I found it – the lump and it wasn’t a small one either.

I knew enough to know that it wasn’t good. It was late Friday afternoon, we were leaving for our trip on Tuesday, and there wasn’t a lot of time before we left. 

I was scared!

SEEING THE DOCTOR, QUICK!

I called my clinic and they were able to squeeze me in early Saturday morning. Let’s just say, my mind became preoccupied with “the lump” instead of the trip. I couldn’t eat. My sleep that night was super sporadic with thoughts swirling, and my brain wouldn’t turn off!

My prayers were not very coherent. I am sure the thought process was all over the place. But, He knows the desires of my heart and when I speak it to him as best I can, He responds.

So, where was God in all this? I was about to see God in action. His hand was in this WHOLE situation. Watching Him work over the next couple of days was something that took my breath away at each turn.

Saturday morning couldn’t arrive soon enough. All I wanted was for the doctor to say it wasn’t a big deal, that I could just go on with my day, and enjoy my trip.

My whole life I had been told that Jesus is always with you. He is everywhere (omnipresent) and knows everything (omniscient). Along with this truth I had been taught one prayer strategy is to ask Jesus to reveal where He is with you.

SANCTIFIED IMAGINATION

Our imagination is from God. Let me explain.

In God’s infinite wisdom, He created every part of us, including our imagination and He desires for us to use it. However, many times when God wants to speak to us through our imagination we regard it as foolishness.

Our western Christian culture has dismissed our imaginations and given them over to other religions, thinking that they are a source of bad things and not an avenue for the Lord to speak, even though there are dreamers and people who saw visions all over Scripture and some didn’t even follow the Lord.

EXAMPLES FROM SCRIPTURE OF THE LORD USING HUMAN IMAGINATION

If God’s use of human imaginations are all over scripture AND God never changes, then why should we dismiss something because you or someone you know has had a bad experience with their imagination?

Kristi Graner says it this way,

“It is like saying that I have access to the best virtual reality ever created, but because I have had bad experiences or know someone who has had a bad experience with their imagination, I am just going to unplug it and never use it again. 

Your imagination is a powerful tool that God gave you and we have an enemy who understands this and will try to hijack it. He will try and get our imagination going in bad places. So, clean it up, plug it in and learn to use it the way God intended it to be used. That can be done through sanctifying your imagination.”

When we sanctify our imaginations we are surrendering our minds to Jesus Christ. In the dictionary, sanctify is: “To set apart as holy; consecrate; to make free from sin,” (Webster’s New World Dictionary). That means that you place your imagination under the blood of Jesus. What He did for us on the Cross, as He shed His blood, was to take on ALL of our sin. We do not have to carry it any longer. We have been set free! 

He can cleanse even our imaginations! So, hand it over!  Ask God to sanctify your imagination and ask Him to teach you all about how He wants to use it. He is the ultimate teacher. You will be glad you did. 

STORY CONTINUED…

I decided to try it right there, in the exam room, before the doctor came in.

“Jesus, where are you right now?” I know I can ask this question, because Scripture tells us that

…the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9.

(Also – Isaiah 41:10, Deut 31:6, Zeph 3:17, Matt 28:20, Heb 3:5, and Rom 8:38-29)

In my mind, I saw Him sitting on the end of the exam table, swinging his legs back and forth in a playful way. Jesus didn’t seem scared. He didn’t seem worried. He seemed happy to be with me. I was shocked to see Him that way, it brought me comfort, and I began to relax.

I wondered if this attitude of His was how I should be responding to the situation too. Maybe this wasn’t something I needed to worry about. Maybe this lump was nothing at all.

MEETING THE DOCTOR

As I sat there and the doctor examined me, she affirmed that there was a lump and that some imaging needed to be done. She was not sure if it all would happen before my trip, but she asked if she could pray for me?

WHAT?! A doctor at a local clinic in Minnesota is asking if she can pray for me?

I was skeptical and kept my eyes open the whole time, but took in every word. I wondered the whole time who she was praying to. Could it be Jesus?

She prayed for the process that I was about to go through and for my body to be healed. She prayed for comfort and peace to be with me. She prayed for me to experience love, and she finished it by saying, “In Jesus’s name, Amen.”

I have since to experience this amazing gift of being prayed for by a doctor, but I do not think I have needed it more than I did at that moment.

As I was leaving, she handed me the information for the imagining place. She answered every question I had before I even asked it. I felt very at ease and slightly in awe of how this was all unfolding. One of the last things she said to me was that the imagining place is not open until Monday morning and I should call first.

THE CALL

When I called to schedule my mammogram, the woman on the other end literally laughed at me when I told her I wanted to get in that day. I couldn’t believe her response. Doesn’t she know that laughing is not the way you treat fearful callers?

Her laughing stopped immediately as she looked at the schedule for that day. She said, and I will never forget it, “Wow, it must be your lucky day. This never happens around here. We have an appointment that just opened up. However, it is in an hour. Can you get here by then?”

I knew I would be cutting in close, but I needed to make it work.

THE IMAGING CLINIC

As I pulled into that parking lot with three minutes to spare, I couldn’t believe it. I ran into the building and bolted up the stairs. When I opened up the door to the waiting room, I was surrounded by pink ribbons everywhere. It was the most overwhelming feeling, knowing that the outcome of the imaging could mean I had cancer. I was surrounded by that very real possibility and it scared the s*#@ out of me. So many women had come before me and were told that. Would I be next?

As I was called back to change, I was numb. I had so many questions. What would it be like? Would it hurt? What would they find? How would I handle it?

After I got changed, I made my way to the small waiting room. It was in a small hallway with chairs that lined both walls. I sat down and slid into a reclining position. I picked up some of the reading materials that were laid out, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything.

I decided to ask Jesus where He was. I wanted to see Him and not feel so alone.

He was sitting in a chair right across from me in a hunched position. His elbows were resting on his knees and His face was looking right at me. What I saw was exactly what I needed. He had this deep concern in His eyes that was filled with the most intense love. It was as if He knew I needed this side of Him more than the playful Jesus I had seen on Saturday.

I rested in His presence until I was called back and it was glorious! It was calming! I was ready to find out what was happening in my body.

MY EYES WERE OPENED

When the technician came into the room, after the mammogram was over, she said I needed to have an ultrasound as well. The images they had were not conclusive enough and they needed more information.

She escorted me to the ultrasound room and I was greeted by the technician. The feeling of the room was really different than any place I had felt before. The room had a sense of hope, of calm, and of joy as I walked into it. My whole demeanor changed. I went from being scared to having hope.

When the imaging was over and the tech left the room to discuss my results with a radiologist, I asked Jesus what was happening in the room. I was curious why the room felt different than every other room in that office space.

For the first time in my life I was able to see a couple of angels hovering in the corners of the room. I was not scared. I was not frightened. It was like the Lord opened my eyes for me to see what was happening in the atmosphere in the room.

I was calm with anticipation to find out my results.

When the tech came back in the room, she handed me a sheet of paper telling me that there was nothing wrong with what they found, everything is normal and I should go and enjoy my trip.

I was elated. I was ecstatic and I couldn’t believe how the Lord orchestrated this whole situation.

As I left, I prayed for the other women who would come after me. I prayed that they would have a similar comfort and love encounter that I had with the Lord and that He would make Himself known to them, even if they were not seeking Him at that moment.

DISNEY

As I boarded the plane the next day with my whole family, I could fully enjoy every little detail of our trip because of what had happened just a few hours before. Our trip was amazing and life-giving and everything I ever imagined as we stepped into the most magical place on earth.

TESTIMONY

I have been given a testimony that will carry me through every physical illness and doctor visit to come AND I know that God will use my imagination to reveal truths about Himself and the world around me.

I hope you can take this with you too. God is in the business of doing things again. He is a God that does not change. What He has done for me He can also do for you. (Hebrews 13:8)

My prayer, as you finish reading this story, is that you too will realize that the God of the Universe, is with you ALWAYS. Ask Him to show you where He is with you.

Have you had an experience where God spoke to you in your imagination? I would love to hear about it. Or maybe you would like to get this part of your relationship with the Lord going. I would love to help you. Please reach out through my CONTACT page to get the conversation started.