The 5 minute Doctor and the Lord

Hi dear ones,
I saw Dr. Brooks yesterday morning. He really is a 5 minute doctor. No session I have ever had with him is more than 5 minutes! He said that the hernia repair was still intact and that everything was perfect at this point. He is concerned about it not holding however, due to the fact that the tissue has been weakened by the chemotherapy. I need to continue to take it easy for another month and see him again July 1. So, as the Lord leads, please pray for the strengthening of that tissue so that the mesh will stay where it should and the hernia will not recur. I have been having a lot of pain this past week - perhaps I did too much (I couldn't resist cleaning the refrigerator on Sunday....really not a good idea). Dr. Brooks said the pain is not surprising because they had to suture across the abdominal wall and it will pull. I am quite tired from dealing with the pain and from all the stuff going on in the house. Please pray that the delays would lessen and the work would be done so that our house can be inhabitable and useful again.

After seeing Dr. Brooks today, for those brief moments, I was reminded that although the Lord upholds all things by the word of His power and is really the center and circumference of the entire universe, He has time for us. He encourages us to linger in His presence.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says:
18 But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.
I am reminded of the Lord when he visited with Abraham in Genesis 18. It is really a marvelous story:
Genesis 18:1-8
1 And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
2 And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and there were three men standing opposite him. And when he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them. And he bowed down to the earth
3 And said, My Lord, if I have found favor in Your sight, please do not pass on from Your servant.
4 Please let a little water be fetched, and do wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
5 And let me fetch a morsel of bread that you may sustain yourselves. After that you may pass on, since you have come to your servant. So they said, Do as you have said.
6 And Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, Quickly prepare three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes.
7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it.
8 And he took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Here is a portion from the Life Study of Genesis, #50.

“God likes to appear to us in this way. He does not come in the form of God but in the form of man, without making any declaration that He is Jehovah God. God talked with Abraham as one man talks with another. Suddenly He asked Abraham, "Where is Sarah thy wife?" This might have shocked Abraham, and he might have thought, "This man knows my wife! How could He know her? Isn't he a stranger?" Then the Lord said, "I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life" (v. 10). Abraham might have said, "Who are you? You must be the very El-Shaddai who gave me the promise of Isaac's birth" (17:19, 21). Probably Abraham was still uncertain about this until God said, "Sarah thy wife shall have a son." Sarah laughed when she heard this. No human being could have known at that time that Sarah was laughing within, but the Lord said, "Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?" (v. 13). At this juncture, the Lord clearly unveiled to Abraham that He was Jehovah God by saying, "Is anything too marvelous for the Lord [Jehovah]?" When Sarah denied laughing He said, "Nay; but thou didst laugh" (v. 15), indicating that He was the omniscient God, the One who knows everything, even what is in man's heart. At this time Abraham was clear that this man was the Almighty Jehovah, the very El-Shaddai. In like manner, the disciples of Jesus gradually came to know that the man Jesus was God.
We all need to experience God in this way. …Many times God comes to us while we are sitting at our tent door. Although we may be unprepared to worship God, we may see someone approaching and ask him to stay with us for a while. Eventually we learn that this One is God. Have you not had this kind of experience? …But God often visits us in a very normal way, in a way which is extraordinary as far as religion is concerned. I like the God who appeared to Abraham in the form of a mortal man at his tent door. Many sisters have the experience that while they are cooking in their kitchens or doing the laundry, the Lord comes to them in a very intimate, human way, and they have a pleasant time of sweet fellowship with the Lord, conversing with Him as with a friend. Many brothers have the same kind of experience. While they are working on their jobs or resting at home, the Lord comes to them as a dear friend, and they have an intimate conversation with the Lord. This is the experience of the Lord coming to visit us on our human level so that we can commune with Him as with an intimate friend.”

It is so marvelous that the Lord took the time to have a meal with Abraham and converse with him about the things that were very much of concern to Abraham. The Lord took the time. I’m so glad He’s not a 5 minute God! He enjoys fellowshipping with us, spending time with us. Praise Him.
I thought of the first verse and chorus of an old favorite: Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus:

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There's light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Spend some time today looking full in His wonderful face - even 5 minutes or more. He’s available to all who call on Him.

Much love,
Joanne