Pastor Mike’s Garage April 8th, 2022

Just before you get to Pastor Mike’s Garage, here’s a few things coming up
this month:

– Friday, April 15th is Good Friday and we will be having a
contemplative service from 10:00 am to noon. Please come at any time and
work your way through our program, highlighting Christ’s death for you.
There will be a take home present for everyone who comes.
– April 17th is Easter and we will be having a potluck after the
service. Invite a friend and sign up to bring a food item this Sunday.

*Pastor Mike’s Garage, April 8/2022*

Last week I found myself once again lying on an operating table pondering
life while they worked on me. Similar to my hip replacement surgery a few
months ago, I chose to receive an epidural when they asked me what form of
anaesthesia I would prefer for the procedure. While I would gladly receive
whatever form they thought was best, I have a slight fear of falling asleep
that stems back to my childhood. There’s just something about that
transition from the state of being conscious and in control of my
surroundings to succumbing to the sub-conscious and losing complete control
that has always made me nervous. I’d like to say that it was some kind of
moral standpoint due to my Christian heritage or good upbringing that
protected me from ever wanting to try any form of narcotic or
hallucinogenic drug use even during my wayward years, but if I’m perfectly
honest it was probably more out of this fear of losing control.

Back to me laying on an operating table. Both times, in my hip surgery
three months ago, and my prostate surgery last week, I found myself laying
there with a lot of fear and anxiousness. The joys of being able to Google
search any given procedure and the various possible complications and
statistical percentage of mortality, do absolutely nothing to prepare you
for a stress-free experience! Trust me, if you’re going under the knife at
any point, put your phone down! There’s nothing your gonna learn there
that’s gonna help! Both times I was in the operating room for approximately
two hours, but in the hip surgery there was all kinds of discussion,
sounds, smells, and different stages that kept me occupied at least. For
this procedure it was an hour and a half of the exact same whirring sound,
I found it quite long! The irony was not lost on me that while I chose to
stay awake for the procedures because of my fear of losing control, I had
very little control of what was going on anyway! While lying there both
times I found myself quoting a lot of scripture and doing some serious
praying. Yes of course, I was praying for the doctors’ hands, against the
perils that Google so eloquently detailed, and my family should any of
those perils transpire. But I also found myself praying for my church,
friends, and this old world we find ourselves living in! I don’t pretend to
have vast amounts of scripture committed to memory, but the few verses that
I do have definitely came readily to mind in situations like this. I found
myself pondering and hanging on every word. They definitely where a source
of comfort and strength!

There were two verses that stood out and I found myself really thinking
them through. Both are found in Psalm 119. Verse 11 says “Thy word have I
hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you”, and verse 105 states
“Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” The reality is
we live in a world that is out of control. There is very little that is in
our control. Not our health, government, public opinion, finances,
relationships, weather, nothing! Yah, there are things that we can
desperately work on that slightly affect those things, but in the grand
scheme of things, most of it is pretty much out of our control! What we can
control is what we put into our minds, and bodies! That’s why it is so
essential to keep oneself rooted in the word of God and prayer! We’ve all
found ourselves in a really dark room or outside with no moonlight at night
stumbling around in the darkness and know how scary that can be. The bible
is described as a light for our path! It gives us direction and sheds light
on any situation that we may find ourselves in and gives us a course of
direction that leads us to life instead of peril! The key to success in
life can be found in the words of a chorus most of us learned as a child,
“Read your bible, pray every day, and you’ll grow, grow, grow!”

Pastor Mike

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