Quote from Forum Archives on March 16, 2011, 11:19 am

Posted by: edwrather <edwrather@...>

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The Burning Bush Devotional
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Classic from 2003

03.15.11

Making it Through the Night

This devotional was written after spending nine days in the hospital in
2003.

My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, and my mouth shall
praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on
You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the
shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. - Psalm 63:5-7.

My stay in the hospital (In 2003) has severely disrupted the sleep process
in my life. I found myself while in the hospital dreading the ending of the
day. I dreaded several things about that, including the lack of interaction
with others. Many fewer people came into my room at night, and when they
did, they stayed for a briefer period of time. The noise from the IV machine
seemed louder, and the automatic blood pressure every hour seemed more
intrusive. During the night hours, sometimes bad things would happen, and
when they did it was magnified by the quietness of everything else. It
seemed, it was always at night, when they came to draw blood for the
continual tests that were necessary. My wife was asleep beside my bed, and
so it would have been somewhat rude to watch TV while she was trying to
sleep. Although for the first days, I had no interest in watching television
or reading - those things do seem to pass the time away when you are well
enough to tolerate them.

Strangely, I found it hard to pray while I was hospitalized. I did run some
Bible verses through my mind, but found that difficult as well, possibly
because of some of the medications. When the chaplain came Sunday, we prayed
for God's presence, because that was very precious to me. The entire time I
was hospitalized, I was aware of God's presence. He was not speaking to me
most of the time, although He did about two days before my release. Maybe I
was like Jonah, and He had to get me to a point where I could hear Him. He
has been speaking, and giving me all kinds of ideas since I have left the
hospital. I shared with our congregation Sunday that I pray every day for
inspiration, for ideas for sermons, and devotionals. I have about ten ideas
for devotionals, and sermons, which are flowing out of my hospital stay. One
thing I do know about all of this, is that out of the bad always comes good,
if we love the Lord, and are the called according to His purposes (Romans
8:28).

As with the Psalmist, what took me through the night, was meditating on the
presence of the Lord there with me in my room. Even though the praise was
not coming through my lips, I was praising Him with my heart the entire
time - night and day.

Are you in the midst of your own night that seems to never end, and goes on,
and on, and on? The Lord is the One who can sustain you through the night.
You have to arrive at the point, where you realize there is nothing you can
do, and place it all into the arms of the Lord. There was absolutely nothing
for me to do, while I was laying on my bed with wires, and tubes coming out
everywhere. But I could be aware of His presence, and His concern. I praised
Him with my heart, during those long nights, and that is what you must do as
well. Remember the times, of His help and comfort, through your life.
Remember, and rejoice, that He loves you so much that His One, and only Son
died for you. Remember, that He has not forgotten about you, and that you
are still in the shadow of His wings.

Copyright © 2003-2011. Ed Wrather. Permission is given for use of the
devotionals on a non-profit basis with source credited. The Burning Bush
website has been online since January 31, 1998. On June 8, 1998 the email
version of the Burning Bush Devotional was first sent. Ed Wrather began
writing devotionals in the early 1990s. The distribution of these first
devotionals was primarily through the Burning Bush Newsletter sent to prison
facilities throughout the United States and Canada.

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