Have Faith in God

I read an article today from a church newsletter we receive (we have no idea how we ended up on their mailing list) that I wanted to share with you about Faith's Object.

A young skeptic said to an elderly lady, “I once believed in God, but since studying science I am convinced that God is an empty word.”

The lady replied, “Well, I have not studied science, but since you have, maybe you can tell me from whence came this egg.”

“Why, of course, from the hen,” was the reply.

“And where did the hen come from?”

“Why, the egg.”

“And perhaps,” she said, “you can tell me which existed first.”

“The hen, of course,” rejoined the young man.

“You mean that a hen existed without having come from an egg?”

“Oh, no,” he said, “I should have said the egg was first.”

“Then you mean that an egg existed without having come from a hen?”

He exclaimed, “You’ve got me all mixed up.”

She drove home her point: “Young man, since you cannot explain the existence of even a hen or an egg without God, you cannot expect me to believe that you can explain the existence of the whole world without Him.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 11:1 that "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

I've been dealing with some serious health issues for some time now, and I'm not being very patient with the lack of a diagnosis at this point. But I do firmly believe in God, and I do have faith that He will use whatever happens in my life to my good, if I only trust in Him. I'm thankful that I have that assurance in my life.

Going to the Doctor Ain't What It Used to Be

I've been dealing with strep throat, laryngitis, and a hacking cough for several weeks now. The penicillin shot and oral antibiotics cleared up the strep, but nothing the doctor has prescribed has stopped this heavy mucus cough I've had. So, I called yesterday to see if they could prescribe a different cough syrup. Instead, they sent me off to get a chest X-ray, to rule out pneumonia, I guess. I don't have a fever any more, so pneumonia doesn't make sense to me, but maybe the X-ray does.

That's quite a different order to doing things than the way it used to be done. Used to be, if you went to the doctor with chest congestion, the very first thing the doctor would do would be to get an X-ray, not the last thing. That difference is definitely due to the cost of testing and the pressure to keep costs low for the doctor. Insurance companies push for less testing, too. So, the whole process of diagnosis has changed considerably over the years.

Our little rural town clinic had their own x-ray equipment, where this fancy clinic I go to now doesn't even do their own. They had to send me to lab in the same building to get blood drawn when they tested me for diabetes and down the road to a diagnostic center to have the x-ray done.

Other than looking in ears and mouth, feeling around a little on my neck, and taking a look at the localized inflammation I developed from the penicillin shot - this doctor didn't even touch me.

People nowadays don't have a more personal medical experience to compare to, so they don't know any better. But those of us with gray hair remember when....