Expectations

Last summer, after my first semester at nursing school and before my second semester at nursing school, someone asked me what classes I was taking in the fall.


Boring, boring, Psych/Mental health, boring, and another boring, I told them.


Then I proceeded to tell them I was really excited about seeing the patients in the Psych clinical.  I went on and on about them being people who are just hurting and need extra help, and how I was excited to see how God worked in the mental health arena.  I went on to say how it is "easy" to believe God for a healing/miracle when it is something we can see, like a broken arm, or a headache, or even cancer.  But mental health issues are scary and hard to understand, and I wanted to see God move there.  Because I KNOW God heals.  I know it.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  Psalm 107:20, "He sent his word, and healed them."  The Bible says it, I believe it.


Now, looking back on Psych clinical 3 months ago, I don't know if I saw God move on the patients for a healing/miracle.  I did not see anyone snap out of a depression or a psychosis.


I think God moved on me though.  I learned to see thing differently.  I went into really uncomfortable situations and made the best of it.  I got to practice my patient communication.  And I think God showed me that people need love.


"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us." 1 John 4:7-12

Since I used the "propitiation" scripture, I thought I might explain what that means.  The Son, Jesus, is the propitiation, or substitute, for our sin, for our punishment.  So what?

God is loving and just.  He must punish sin because He is holy (1 Peter 1:16), and cannot be with sin.  But we are all sinners (Romans 3:23).  So that means we cannot be with God in heaven with our sin.  And that made God sad because he created us for fellowship with Him.  So He sent Jesus to take our sin and our punishment for our sin so that we could be with God forever.  All we have to do to be with God in heaven forever is confess our sin (1 John 1:9); confess means to tell God what you did and ask for forgiveness, to say you are sorry and won't do it again.  Easy.  And you will get to go to heaven.

"We love him, because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

PS. This is my 106th post, wowzers.