Room 728
Following our bike ride along the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD, Claudia and I said goodbye to our riding partners and drove a rental car down to see some of her family in the Shenandoah valley outside of Roanoke, VA. Visiting her siblings and their families wraps us up in a warm hug of love (along with plates-full of great southern comfort food).
A wrinkle in the story was that one of Claudia’s brothers recently suffered a stroke and was in the rehab wing of the local hospital. When he stroked in their kitchen, help soon arrived and the right meds administered and off to the ICU he went. His prognosis looks good for recovery, but now exists in the in-between time. Waiting time. Rehab time. Sitting and wanting faster progress time. Frustrating time.
One morning, while the family visited at home, I drove in to spend some time in Room 728. Though far removed from our local doctor joint, I readily recognize the smells, see the same smocks, hear familiar calls and buzzers and beeps. Room 728 could be Anywhere, USA, but it is here and happens to house my brother-in-law, a good man wrestling with an invisible giant. We visited and prayed and told stories to one another, then I left him…alone in Room 728.
Each of us has spent time in Room 728.
Literally, when it is our turn to be in hospital
Or when nothing seems to be changing for the better
Or those times when being alone is the only option
Room 728 can be a hard place, but just as truly, it holds the potential to be a place of transformation, a place where God shows up in the darkest corners of life. You, as God’s child, live under the tutelage of a master teacher/parent. In Room 728, the noise of the world diminishes so that the whisper of the Spirit might be heard. In that room everyday stuff cannot be addressed, so time can be invested in searching for the face of God. And he is there. Always has been.
During his time in Room 728, dealing with an unnamed physical challenge, Paul prayed three times for God to remove whatever was hindering him. In 2 Corinthians 12 he writes,
Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.
When you find yourself in Room 728, these verses say you are in good company. Paul “begged” for relief (as have I) and kept pleading even though he got the same response three times. The apostle knew well his pain and how much whatever disabled him limited his ability to do what he felt God had for him to do. Apparently, Jesus had other plans for him and his issues. What Paul’s Room 728 offered was just what would set him up to experience the power of God through the gift of grace in ways that full health could never deliver. Instead of being healed, he is transformed by his experience. Rather than bemoaning his situation, he welcomes his trouble as a chance to see God work in and through him. The Spirit quietly repeated a most challenging explanation to Paul.
"My power works best in weakness"
What an interesting turn of phrase. In our times of self-assertion and curated images, how odd that God would choose to use the very things we try to hide or hide from to do his best work. In Room 728 I can’t rely on me to pull this off. I must have him.
Sliding around this idea to you and me, there is much to learn, but here are just a couple of thoughts to kick around.
Whatever sent you to Room 728 can be so hard to handle, and begging for relief is not out of bounds, and really, it would be strange not to do that. However, leaving space for the transforming work of God through what you are experiencing in that place may open up avenues you never imagined. The very things we ask for relief from can be what is used to build into your life valuable character traits and insights into yourself and others that are learned nowhere else.
These verses reveal a God who both knows your heart and hears your prayers, but also wastes none of your experiences, even the worst of them. He will use it all in building in you the likeness of Jesus, and your very weaknesses will serve as a backdrop to his power in and through you to others.
So, next time you check into Room 728, take heart. You are not alone. As you face what is before you, remember the room carries the potential to transform you into something stronger, with better life-insights, and filled with a new understanding of the Father, Son, and Spirit at work in every part of life. God is not finished with his work in you and has not at all forgotten you. It may not be an easy road, but, like he said, his power works best in weakness.
I’m all in for that. Let's graciously, kindly, gently remind one another of these truths. God is for us, in every room you find yourself.
And some music for the week
How about a couple of jokes?
REAL COURT HILARITY
Attorney: Is your appearance here this morning pursuant to a deposition notice which I sent to your attorney?
Witness: No, this is how I dress when I go to work.
__________
Attorney: Do you recall the time when you examined the body?
Witness: The autopsy started around 8:30 PM
Attorney: And Mr. Denton was dead at that time?
Witness: If not, he was by the time I finished.
__________
Attorney: The youngest son, the 20-year-old, how old is he?
Witness: He's 20, much like your IQ.
__________
Attorney: Doctor, how many of your autopsies have you performed on dead people?
Witness: All of them… The live ones put up too much of a fight.
__________
Attorney: Now, doctor, isn't it true that when a person dies in his sleep, he doesn't know about it until the next morning?
Witness: Did you actually pass the bar exam?
__________
Attorney: How was your first marriage terminated?
Witness: By death.
Attorney: And by whose death was it terminated?
Witness: Take a guess.
__________
A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running to church as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Sunday School class.
As she ran she prayed, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!"
While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again.
As she ran she once again began to pray, "Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! But please don't shove me again, either!"